Timeless
by perfectlyhorriddarling
Summary: A mysterious new girl moves to Beacon Hills in the midst of a new threat and a new pack that is highly organized and highly motivated to get what they want. Stiles can't explain his attraction to the new girl or her apparent involvement in the dangerous new problems. Stiles POV. [StilesxOC]
1. Chapter 1

"If you guys could stop sucking face for two minutes to listen to me that would be great," I complained. Scott and Kira were adorable and everything but after everything with Malia, deciding to go out on her own for a while and, you know breaking my heart, I wasn't too patient with excessive PDA. Scott smirked at me but Kira gave me an apologetic smile and disentangled herself from my best friend.

"I'll see you guys later," she said, walking into school.

"Dude, are you okay?" Scott asked me. Sometimes I still saw that worry in his face that I had seen so much of after finally separating from the nogitsune. But right now all it did was annoy me in my bad mood.

"I'm fine," I said shortly.

"Well, good because we have a quiz in Chemistry that your really can't mess up," Lydia said as she joined us. I rolled my eyes with an exaggerated groan.

"He's having a bad day," Scott told her patronizingly. Just then, I caught sight of a flash of a blonde careening towards me just before the girl collided with my chest and sent us both flying backwards.

"A really bad day," Lydia observed from above us. A blonde head popped up from my chest and I caught sight of the girl who'd knocked me over. Her hair was white blonde and wavy, chopped just below her chin in a fashionable bob. She had huge green eyes and freckles scattered across her tan face, a small nose, and full lips. She also looked horrified.

"I am_ so_ sorry!" she squeaked and then scrambled to get off of me. She accidentally elbowed me in the gut as she was getting up and I let out an 'oof.' "Sorry, gosh, I'm so sorry!" she repeated.

"It's really okay, I'm fine," I laughed, standing up. she hesitated in front of me, obviously feeling awkward. She was wearing black converse, jean cut-offs that showed off her long tan legs, and a worn, dark blue t-shirt that read 'If life gives you melons, you may be dyslexic.' After a second, she reached out and straightened the collar of my flannel and brushed some dirt off my shoulders.

"Sorry again!" she said as she hurried off. I watched her go, still reeling.

"Spaz," Lydia stated, and though it looked as if the blonde should be out of hearing range she heard and flinched but kept going until she was inside. "Normally you're the one who trips and makes a fool of themselves, Stiles."

"You all right, buddy?" Scott asked again at my silence. I turned back from where the girl had disappeared.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I repeated but this time not as forcefully. "Have you ever seen her before?" I asked gesturing to the school.

"No, she must be a transfer," Scott said with a shrug.

"I'm going to fail algebra," Liam said as he trudged next to me.

"Sorry, little buddy, I'd teach you but I'm pretty sure I blocked the entirety of that class from my mind. You could always ask Lydia to tutor you," I suggested as we headed to our last periods.

"Um, no thanks. She's scary and king of a—" the same blonde girl came around the corner in front of us and stopped herself just in time from crashing into me again. But then she overcorrected, with too much of her weight backwards, and almost fell on her butt. I reached out and grabbed the straps of her black backpack to keep her from falling and pulled her upright. Mimicking her earlier behavior, I straightened the white lab coat she was wearing and brushed off her shoulders with a smirk. Her wide eyes told me she was embarrassed but her nervous chuckle told me she got the joke.

"Thanks, she said. "I guess I should watch where I'm go—"

"Blake?" Liam interrupted from next to me. The girl looked over at him and her eyes got even wider.

"Oh, hey Liam," she said, obviously confused. "I didn't know you transferred_ here_." Liam nodded, obviously surprised to see her as well. At his silence, her embarrassment increased and she nervously tucked her short hair behind an ear with multiple piercings. "How's math going? You should be in algebra right?" she asked him. Again, Liam just nodded at her. I cleared my throat.

"I'm Stiles," I said, holding my hand out to her. She shook it, her small cold hand almost enveloped by mine and her black nail polish contrasting against my pale skin. "A friend of Liam, here," I continued, clapping Liam on the back roughly to get him out of whatever trance he was in. "Who has apparently forgotten how to talk to pretty girls." I stopped. Did I just say that? She gave me a look that said she wasn't sure either and Liam looked like he was on the same page. Since when did I call girls pretty to their face? Since when was I confident enough to flirt with random girls in the hallway?

"Um," Liam said, saving me, "Sorry. Stiles this is Blake. She was my math tutor before I transferred here. Blake this is….Stiles."

"Nice to meet you," Blake said, giving me a nod.

"Back at you doctor." At her look of confusion I gestured to her lab coat.

"Oh! I forgot to take this off in Biology!" she exclaimed.

"Mr. James?" Liam asked and she nodded. "I can take it back. My next class is beside his." She quickly shrugged off the coat and handed it to him.

"Thank you so much! I don't think I'll have time to take it back and still find my next class," she said with relief.

"What do you have?" I questioned.

"Er, government with Mr….Finnstock?" she said, not reading from a schedule but trying to pronounce the name correctly.

"Me, too! I'll walk you there!" As I said this the one minute warning bell rang and Liam began to inch away. I pulled him back by the backpack. "But first, Liam has something he wants to ask you," I prompted, motioning for Liam to go ahead.

"Oh, uh," Liam started, "could you maybe start tutoring me again?" She gave him a small smile.

"Sure. Find me after school and we can work something out," she said reassuringly. Liam breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, B. I'll see you guys later!" Liam yelled as he ran to make it to his class. I gestured for Blake to follow me.

"So you're a transfer?" I asked and she nodded. "What made you switch schools?"

"Oh, um, just wanted a change of scenery?" she said it like a question, tucking her hair back behind her ear. I nodded without questioning her further, though I knew it wasn't the whole story. The bell rang just as we were approaching the classroom. I cringed and turned back to her.

"Just a warning, Coach is a little intense," I said before opening the door.

"STILINSKI!" Coach screamed as he caught sight of me. Blake jumped behind me. "DO YOU NOT HAVE THE BRAIN CAPACITY TO ARRIVE TO MY CLASS ON TIME?!"

"Sorry, Coach, I was just showing our new student how to get here," I said, stepping aside to reveal Blake who was hiding behind me with wide scared eyes. Coach then visibly relaxed. Which was weird because I've never seen him do that before. And then when he spoke to her the whole class stopped talking and listened. Because no one had ever witnessed this before. This being Coach acting…gentle.

"Well, hi there," Coach said, his voice, for once, at a normal volume. "What's your name?" The whole class gaped at him.

"Blake. Blake Everett," the blonde said softly.

"Why don't you take a seat next to Stilinski okay? Hopefully he won't corrupt you too much," Coach said with a joking smile which Blake returned hesitantly. I was flabbergasted.

"Coach—" I started.

"SIT YOUR ASS DOWN STILINSKI!" Coach screamed at me. I hurriedly grabbed Blake's arm and led her to the back of the classroom. Once there, I quickly pulled my hand away when I realized that I had manhandled her all the way there, my hand sitting gently on her shoulder.

"Sorry," I mumbled and gestured to her desk next to mine. Lydia sat behind me and Scott in front. Lydia leaned forward as Coach started his lecture. Blake was taking a notebook and pen out to take notes and everyone else lay their head down to nap.

"Where'd you find her?" Lydia asked, loud enough for Blake to hear, she glanced over at us and I smiled at her.

"Coming out of biology," I said, leaving out the part about her almost falling again and the forgotten lab coat. Lydia frowned.

"Don't you have AP Chemistry with me?" Lydia asked her. I almost flinched at her callous tone. Blake nodded.

"Biology is my elective," she said softly. Lydia harrumphed and sat back in her seat. I rolled my eyes for Blake and she gave me a small smile before turning back to the lesson.

The bell rang and Blake started packing her bag. Lydia waited for her impatiently and was scowling when Blake straightened up. Blake looked mildly alarmed at the abrupt appearance of the redhead at her desk. Lydia opened her mouth but I jumped out of my desk before she could say something mean.

"Blake, this is my friend Lydia," I said quickly.

"Hi, nice to m—"

"You saw me this morning when you attacked Stiles in front of the school," Lydia interrupted. Blake flushed slightly.

"Oh, um…" she started.

"And this is my other, slightly more subtle, friend Scott," I said, shoving Scott into her field of vision.

"Hi, it's great to meet you," Scott said easily. "And don't worry about this morning, Stiles enjoyed it," he teased.

"Definitely," I said and winked at Blake. She smiled back at us.

"Well, thanks for showing me around Stiles. I have to go to my locker before I find Liam," Blake said, putting on her backpack.

"We'll meet you outside the school by the fountain in ten minutes," I suggested.

"Oh, okay," she agreed. "It was nice to meet you guys." She smiled at Scott and Lydia, who was scowling, and left the room.

"Weird," Lydia said and strutted out of the room ahead of us. I turned to Scott who was giving me a weird look.

"What?" I asked.

"You were flirting with her. Since when do you flirt?" Scott asked incredulously. I shrugged self-consciously.

"She's cute," I said defensively. Scott smiled and clapped a hand on my shoulder.

"Dude, I don't know if you know this but you have become a stud. Who knows what happened but changes have been made since freshmen year," Scott teased.

"Do you find it attractive? Because I really think we should give our relationship a chance, Scott," I said and Scott rolled his eyes and began to walk out of the classroom. "Come on, Scott just make out with me!" I yelled after him.

Blake was sitting by the fountain when Liam, Scott, and I finished changing. She was doing some sort of very confusing looking homework.

"Hey, guys," she said easily. "Liam, when do you want to get together?"

"Is today after practice okay? I have a quiz tomorrow," Liam asked. Blake nodded. "I can meet you at your apartment?" Liam suggested.

"Oh, um, I just moved and the new place is a mess. I haven't had time to paint or unpack," she said, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"You guys can come to my place," I blurted. "Scott and I were going to study anyway and that way you don't have to drive all the way out to Liam's house." Blake glanced at Liam, who shrugged.

"That would be great," she said.

"Great!" I repeated. "I can give you my address…" she looked slightly panicked at this so I continued, "or you can follow us over after practice."

"I'll just do some homework until you guys are done, if that's okay. I haven't really been here long enough to find my way around," she said shyly. I grabbed her stack of books sitting next to her.

"That's fine; tons of people wait in the bleachers anyways. Lacrosse is a huge thing here," I explained as we started our way to the field.

"I've seen Liam play before. He's really good but I don't know that much about the sport," she admitted as Scott and Liam walked a little ahead of us to catch up with Danny.

"To be honest, I don't either. I'm really horrible at it," I said, grimacing as I realized that I had just invited a girl to watch as I failed epically at practice. But Blake just laughed. I handed her books back to her as we reached the bottom of the bleachers.

"Thanks," she said with a smile.

"No problem," I replied, grinning at her. She was even prettier outside, where the sun made her blonde hair glow and her tan seemed warm to the touch. I quickly turned and caught up to Scott and Liam before I started drooling.

"Since when are we studying today?" Scott asked with a smirk.

"Since Liam's hot tutor transferred to our school," I replied. There was a yelp from behind us and I turned in time to see a blonde head disappear behind a row of bleachers. Blake popped back up after a second and saw us looking at her.

"I'm okay!" she called and waved off my concerned look, continuing to climb the bleachers a few rows before sitting down. I smiled and turned back to the guys. Scott was watching her, frowning, but I ignored him.

"So," I said to Liam expectantly. "Spill your guts."

"She was my tutor, Stiles. We didn't have long heartfelt discussions between geometry questions," he replied, rolling his eyes.

"All I'm looking for is general information, kiddo," I prompted and he scowled at the nickname. "Come on!" I begged.

"Fine," he complied, rolling his eyes at me again. "She's been emancipated for as long as I've known her but I don't know why. My parents do but they wouldn't tell me. She's super smart, like insanely smart, and she was dating this soccer player when I transferred but he was a dick. Really, that's all I know." I glanced back up to where Blake was doing her homework, her long legs stretched out in front of her.

"STILINSKI!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry this is my first fanfic and I'm just testing it out so if you have any suggestions they would be much appreciated! Tell me what you think! **

She walked over to us after we emerged from the locker room.

"You guys look like you have a good team," she said.

"We do when Stiles is on the bench," Liam teased.

"Yeah, yeah, see who's laughing when I make you walk home from school," I retorted. We made our way to the parking lot.

"This is me," Blake said, patting the hood of a '96 Bronco with matte black paint. It was a badass car.

"How is the monster?" Liam asked, mimicking her pat as if the car was a dog.

"Still running," Blake said with a sigh. "For now, at least."

"I'm in the blue Jeep," I said and she nodded. She parked on the street in front of my house after following me the short distance home. I was surprised to see my dad at home.

"Dad, I brought some friends over!" I yelled as I opened the door. Blake looked around the house. I was about to apologize for the slight mess and the obvious lack of a woman's touch but then I noticed that her eyes weren't critical. They were in awe.

"Any one more dangerous than a were—" my dad cut off as he walked into the foyer and saw Blake but she didn't seem to notice. She was staring at his badge.

"Dad, this is Blake, she just transferred here," I introduced.

"Blake Everett?" dad asked. I glanced at Blake, confused, as she gulped and nodded.

"Sheriff Shepherd has talked to you?" she guessed and seemed ready to bolt. My dad watched her but shook his head.

"No, actually Deputy Valentine called about you," he responded and Blake let out a visible sigh of relief. "He asked me to watch out for you while you were in Beacon Hills. Said you were a good kid but that you tended to find trouble." I glared at my dad as Blake awkwardly shifted her feet and cleared her throat.

"Guilty as charged," she said hesitantly. My dad smiled at her and she seemed to relax a bit.

"Well it must be true if you're hanging out with my son," he teased and she smiled back at him and then at me. "Just make sure you tell me if you need anything," he prompted.

"I will," she said with a confusingly firm tone. "Thanks, Sheriff." She gave him one more smile and then followed Liam into the kitchen. Scott and I blocked my dad's way as he tried to go out the open door.

"Thanks for freaking her out," I reprimanded.

"What kind of trouble is she in?" Scott said at the same time.

"Nothing that concerns you two," Dad said firmly and pushed past us, closing the door in our faces. We both frowned and then made our way into the kitchen. Blake was already opening one of her notebooks, to work on while she was helping Liam.

"I'm starving!" groaned Scott.

"I can make us some food," I offered.

"No!" Scott and Liam yelled simultaneously. Blake jumped a bit in her chair but Liam turned to her quickly.

"Stiles is the worst cook on the planet!" he exclaimed.

"I can handle frozen burritos or something," I protested but both Scott and Liam shook their heads vigorously. Blake just laughed.

"I can make us something if you want," she proposed.

"You can cook?" I asked, getting out my school stuff.

"Well, yeah," Blake shifted uneasily, tucking her hair behind an ear. "I've been living alone for a while now so I know enough to feed myself," she explained.

"I don't know what we have but you can definitely try," I said. She stood up from the table and opened the fridge, learning over to get a view of the contents. As she did this, we got a view of her butt. Which was, objectively, very nice. Out stares were interrupted by Blake straightening up, carrying some supplies over to the counter. As she talked to Liam quietly about his problems with algebra, I found it hard to concentrate on my own homework. Her fingers were long and thin and carefully folded turkey and ham slices onto tortillas. Her brows furrowed as she worked through a problem in her head for Liam. I almost fell out of my seat when she licked a drop of salad dressing off her finger, her lips pursing as she went back to the sandwiches. Scott kicked me under the table and leaned close to my face.

"It's a good thing she's oblivious or she'd be running away from your house," he hissed quietly.

"What?" I asked.

"You're looking at her like you want to eat _her_ for dinner," Scott accused. This sent Liam, who could hear us with his werewolf hearing, into a coughing fit trying to cover his laughter. Blake immediately looked to get him a glass of water, turning her face away from all of us. I glared at Scott but tried to focus better on my work, but not before I saw the light flush on Blake's cheeks.

A half hour later Liam was clearly grasping the material for his quiz the next day and Blake was setting finished sandwiches in front of us. It was turkey and ham wraps with lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese with salad dressing instead of mayo, which I was pretty sure we were out of. She had toasted them on the stove and grilled some cucumbers on the side.

"This looks delicious," Scott said before taking a huge bite and nodding appreciatively. We all had our mouths full within seconds, to which Blake laughed.

"Yeah, thanks B," Liam mumbled through his food and Scott and I echoed him.

"You're welcome," Blake said with a smile.

"So what classes are you taking this year, Blake?" I asked

"Physics, Biology, Chemistry, US History, yoga and Government," she listed.

"Are those all AP courses?" Scott asked. Blake nodded.

"Well, except for yoga," she added.

"You aren't taking a math or English?" I asked.

"Blake took BC Calculus and Statistics last year. We don't offer anything higher," Liam explained.

"I'm taking some online college classes, but it makes me sound like a nerd when I talk about them," Blake admitted, grimacing.

"It makes you sound like a genius," I reassured her.

"Did I do this last problem right?" Liam asked as we finished our sandwiches. Blake looked it over and then gave him a high-five.

"You did it perfectly," she said. "Well, I'd better go."

"You don't want to stay for movie night?" I asked. Scott tried to hide his smirk as tonight was definitely not movie night.

"Sorry, I can't, I have to catch up on some work," she said.

"B works for a fancy pharmaceutical company," Liam revealed.

"It's mostly computer work, but it pays the bills," she said with a smile. This girl was getting more interesting by the second. "I'll see you guys tomorrow morning." I walked her to the door and opened it for her.

"Thanks for letting us study here. Hope I wasn't intruding too much," she said hesitantly.

"Are you kidding? I don't think I've eaten that well in a long time. You are hereby always welcome at the Stilinski house," I teased and she smiled. "If you need any help painting or moving furniture around at your new place, I know a couple guys that will trade manual labor for a good meal," I offered and she laughed.

"I might take you up on that," she replied.

"Done! We'll come over after school tomorrow," I said and a loud groan came from Liam in the kitchen. Blake looked alarmed as they shouldn't have been able to hear us. "Must've moved on to English homework," I suggested.

"Oh, sure," she said frowning and still looking slightly alarmed. "Well I'll see you guys tomorrow." She walked out to her Bronco.

"Bye!" I yelled and then closed the door.

"Stop volunteering me for things!" Liam yelled. I rolled my eyes and joined them in the kitchen, where they were sharing a cryptic look.

"You owe her for tutoring you," I reminded him and he frowned, looking at Scott who nodded at him. Some weird alpha to beta permission ritual or something probably, but at least Liam stopped whining.

I was waiting outside with Scott and Kira when Blake got to school. She was frowning down at a paper in her hands and was going to pass us without noticing when I called out.

"Hey, Blake!" I said, loud enough to break through her thoughts. But it must have been too loud because she started and almost tripped again. I caught her arm and turned her around to face us.

"This is Scott's girlfriend Kira," I introduced. Blake smiled and shook Kira's hand, embarrassed.

"I think we have yoga together," Kira said sweetly.

"Oh, yeah, sorry I'm still placing faces with names. You have a pink yoga mat," Blake said.

"Yeah," Kira said, surprised. Blake grimaced.

"Not a stalker, I promise. I have a photographic memory," Blake explained.

"So that's why you're so smart!" I exclaimed. "You cheat!"

"I don't cheat, I just remember," Blake corrected with a smirk.

"So do you still want us to come over after practice today?" I asked, aware that she hadn't really agreed last night. Blake bit her lip, thinking about it.

"Stiles is offering our painting skills and brute strength to help Blake set up her new apartment," Scott explained to Kira, who then got excited.

"Ooh, I could help with decorating! It would be so fun!" she said excitedly.

"Okay, I guess that's all right," Blake said shyly, aware that now four people had invited themselves over to her new apartment. I rolled my eyes and spun her towards the door, heading towards her locker.

"We're just repaying you for yesterday. You won't be stuck with us. Necessarily," I teased. She was wearing white shorts today that brought out her tan even more and a pink tank top that read 'Shhh. No one cares.' I thought that that was an odd shirt for a girl like Blake to wear, but didn't comment. Unlike yesterday, the neckline of her tank top dipped just enough to make it distracting.

"Do you want to write down your address for me and I'll bring everyone over after practice," I said. Blake nodded and took a sticky note and pen out of her locker, scribbling the address down quickly. I gave her a grin before heading to class.

Blake's apartment building looked pretty nice for an emancipated teen, but Scott assured me we had the right address. We made our way to the corner apartment on the second floor and knocked. Blake answered the door with a smile and let us in. She had changed into red cotton shorts and a paint-splattered white t-shirt that read 'I would be a morning person if morning started at noon.' Her hair was up in a messy ponytail, wavy strands that were too short flying out at odd angles.

"Where do you get all your cool shirts?" Kira laughed as we stepped inside.

"I used to work at a novelty store that sold them and when they went out of business they gave me tons of stuff for free," Blake explained, gesturing with a power screwdriver in her hand. Her apartment was pretty nice. It was a studio apartment with wood floors and a bank of windows above a small kitchen and floor to ceiling windows on the other side of the room. There was a king size bed in one corner with a sleeping bag on it and a dresser and bookshelf but no other furniture. Stacked in the middle of the room were boxes, some opened but most closed with color coded duct tape. There was a ladder by the windows where Blake had apparently been putting up curtains. She caught me looking.

"I know it kinds of negates the effect of having floor to ceiling windows but curtains make me feel safer at night," she said, tucking a flyaway hair behind her ear. I thought of her alone at night and frowned, even though it was an okay neighborhood.

"It's a good idea," I assured her, thinking of Derek's apartment, where the windows and skylight are repeatedly being broken into by the supernatural.

"What color are we painting?" Kira asked, setting her purse on a kitchen counter. The walls were presently a faded cream.

"Well it was sky blue but I mixed in some white to make it airier," Blake said, carrying a paint can over to the first wall. She picked up a brush and painted a thick stripe down the center. "What do you think?" Liam, Scott, and I shrugged but Kira gasped.

"That's so pretty!" she squealed. Blake smiled, and mumbled a thank you. After covering the bed and furniture with plastic tarps we started painting. It was sort of calming after the stressful school day and we fell into a comfortable rhythm, joking and teasing softly. Blake was on top of the ladder, painting careful lines where the walls met the ceiling with a steady hand. She was barefoot, her toes painted a deep purple as she stood on tip-toe. Even her feet were pretty. She was humming softly to herself.

"I'm bored of painting!" Kira huffed after a while. "Do you have another job I could do?" Scott smiled at her indulgently.

"Um, you could unpack the kitchen?" Blake suggested. "Kitchen boxes are sealed with yellow tape and there are numbered sticky notes that refer to which cupboard or drawer that box goes in," she explained.

"You're not OCD, are you?" I joked as Kira set to work.

"I'm organized," Blake corrected with a crooked smile.

"Whatever you want to call it," I teased. We finished painting soon after since the apartment wasn't too big.

"You don't have any other furniture?" Liam asked.

"I have some more in a storage container downstairs but it's too heavy. I'll have to hire a moving company to bring it up," Blake explained. Scott and Liam shared a look.

"We can do it," Scott offered.

"There's like a piano and a solid oak desk. They're pretty heavy," Blake said skeptically.

"We got this, B," Liam assured her. Blake shrugged and we left Kira unpacking silverware to go downstairs. Blake opened the storage container to reveal a white baby grand piano, a dark wood desk, and other miscellaneous boxes and furniture. Scott and Liam easily lifted the piano and headed back upstairs without a word. Blake raised surprised eyebrows at me.

"Don't look at me! I'm the brains of the operation." She smirked and handed me a lightweight bamboo screen. She grabbed another box and we met Scott and Liam at the stairs. Blake quickly put down her box and moved to help Scott with the piano.

"Really it's okay we got it," he said but then the piano slipped from his hands a few steps up. The weight fell on Blake and she began to slip down the stairs, struggling to keep her feet under her. Scott quickly caught the weight with one arm and Blake with the other, stopping her from falling. Blake looked at him with wide eyes and gave a shaky laugh.

"I think I'm going to let you take that," she said, letting go of the piano and walking back down a few steps. Scott stared at her for a second with a blank expression before nodding and continuing up the stairs. Blake was looking a little unstable.

"Are you all right?" I asked, glancing up at Scott and Liam, who were taking the piano into the apartment with ease.

"Yeah, I'm good," she said breathily and picked up her box. When we entered the apartment again, Blake frowned at Kira looking through a box that was obviously not labeled with yellow duct tape.

"What color did you say was for the kitchen?" Kira asked lamely as she tried to look like she wasn't snooping. "Sorry."

"It's fine. The kitchen boxes are yellow," Blake smiled but I could tell she noticed the weird behavior. Liam and Blake walked back down the stairs to get more things but I stopped Scott before he could follow.

"What the hell was that?" I asked, referring to how he almost just dropped a piano on the new girl. Scott motioned for me to be quiet and then tapped his ear, suggesting that Blake was close enough to hear us. He mouthed that we would talk about it later.

After bringing everything up that Blake wanted from the storage container we all met upstairs again and took a break.

"So," Blake said, pouring us all some lemonade into her green sea glass cups. "Tell me your secret." Immediately we all panicked, shuffling defensively and looking for an exit. Blake seemed to notice this, but kept talking. "Is it steroids or just excessive weight lifting because that piano is really heavy." We relaxed.

"Shocked I'm not the same lanky freshmen you saved from bullies, B?" Liam said.

"Just taking stock of my resources," she teased.

"They are at your disposal," Kira promised with a nervous laugh. I noticed a new laptop with a sticker that read Bell Pharmaceuticals on the counter.

"So what kind of work do you do for them?" I asked, gesturing to the sticker.

"I mostly calculate supply and demand, taking into account current events, stock prices, weather, and stuff like that. I tell them how much to make of each treatment, using a computer program that I designed," she explained.

"What do current events have to do with production of medicine?" Scott asked.

"Well, let's say gas prices go up. People get stressed so I tell them to produce more ibuprofen and Xanax," she explained.

"Sounds complicated, huh?" Liam asked to no one in particular.

"Well, they pay me buckets, so it's worth it. Plus I'm hoping the higher I move up in the company the more free drugs they'll send me." Our conversation was interrupted by my cell phone ringing.

"Hello?" I asked without looking at the caller ID.

"Stiles? Are you guys okay?" Lydia's voice rang through the phone, sounding worried and tense. She sounded on the verge of tears.

"Yeah, Lyds, we're all fine," I assured her quickly.

"When I couldn't get ahold of anyone…" she trailed off, obviously still freaking out.

"We're okay, we're just over at Blake's place," I said.

"Well, I'm glad you guys are having fun," she said bitterly, her worry quickly turning to anger, "but we have a problem. Isaac just got back." I looked up, meeting worried eyes from everyone in the room.

"We'll meet you at Derek's," I said and hung up, knowing we couldn't talk here.

"Is everything okay?" Blake asked, frowning.

"Yeah, everything's good. Lydia's just having a breakdown. We should probably go," I said apologetically.

"Sure. Thank you guys for all your help," Blake said, obviously still concerned for Lydia. "Oh, here!" she opened the fridge and took out a glass pan to fettuccine alfredo chicken and noodles. "Comfort food for Lydia. And save some for the Sheriff; it's low cholesterol." I took the pan, stunned as Scott, Kira, and Liam for their stuff and thanked Blake.

"How did you—" I started.

"The low cholesterol stamp on your Cheerio's was circled," Blake said. "I figured he's getting tired of cereal for dinner." I gaped at her because she was right.

"Thank you, like, so much," I stuttered.

"Just repaying you for the manual labor," she deflected, looking past me out her front door to where the others were waiting by the car. She locked eyes with Scott and seemed to stand up straighter. "You better go."

"Yeah, uh, I'll see you tomorrow?" Blake nodded and I waved goodbye before tripping down the stairs. Once we were in the car, Kira spoke up.

"What's going on?" she asked as we sped to Derek's.

"Isaac's back."

"Is that a bad thing?" Liam asked, we had told him about Isaac but they had never met.

"We don't know," Scott replied.


	3. Chapter 3

Soon, we arrived at Derek's. Lydia looked pissed off and Derek looked worried but Isaac still smiled and hugged us when we came in. He looked exactly the same as when he had left, blue sweater, curly blonde hair, and bags under his eyes that told us he wasn't sleeping as much as he should. Scott kept a protective hand on Isaac's shoulder as he pulled away. Allison's death had hit both boys hard.

"How are you, man?" I asked. I hoped it conveyed my concern for him as well as my relief that he was back. We didn't always get along but being through what we had as a pack, I wasn't going to let that stand in the way.

"Still alive," Isaac said dryly and we all nodded. He had checked in once or twice but we hadn't heard anything recently. Isaac looked over to Liam and sized him up. "Who's the runt?"

"Oh, Liam? Scott bit him, and then kidnapped him. He probably has Stockholm's syndrome or something," I said and Scott scowled at me.

"It was necessary. He's my beta," Scott said. Liam stood up a little straighter which amused Isaac but he seemingly passed inspection.

"_One_ of your betas," Isaac corrected.

"Does that mean you're staying?" Kira asked. Isaac nodded.

"Now that the pack reunion is over, can we get back to the matter at hand?" Lydia said impatiently.

"What's going on?" Scott said, looking to Derek.

"A pack followed Isaac into town. I've heard of them. They're well organized and well trained. And recently I've heard rumors that they're building an army," Derek said ominously.

"An army of werewolves? That sounds like a great idea!" I said sarcastically.

"We convinced Deucalion that we wouldn't join his pack. We can convince this new pack too," Scott said.

"That's not why they're here. They have to have a bigger game plan," Derek insisted. "From what I've heard, not even a true alpha would be enough to catch their attention for long." That hung in the air for a moment.

"There's something else we have to talk about," Scott said, glancing at Kira and Liam and then at me. "It's about Blake." Suddenly, my anger and confusion at Scott's actions earlier came rushing back.

"Who the hell is Blake?" Derek asked, exasperated.

"She's some new kid that Stiles is infatuated with. I don't think she's worthy of group discussion," Lydia scoffed.

"No, Lydia, I think we should talk about her," I said, brushing off Lydia's pettiness. "I think we should talk about how Kira was snooping through her stuff all day and Scott almost dropped a piano on her while we were helping her unpack her apartment today." I turned to Scott, waiting for an answer, who at least had the decency to look a little embarrassed. Instead, Liam spoke up.

"She smells weird," he blurted. Derek rolled his eyes.

"He means that she smells supernatural," Scott explained.

"She's a werewolf? And you tested her by dropping a piano on her?" Derek asked, clearly having less and less faith in his alpha friend.

"No, she's not a werewolf," Scott said, ignoring the other question. "And she doesn't smell like Lydia so she's not a banshee either. She smells similar to Kira's mom, but different."

"So what are you saying she is? Let's just kidnap her and make her tell us," Isaac suggested like it was a viable option.

"No," Scott said with finality, to which I was grateful for. "All I'm saying is that we need to watch her."

"Stiles won't have a problem with that," Lydia snorted.

"We should bring her to Deaton," Derek suggested.

"What are we going to say? 'Hey, can we offer you a free checkup from a veterinarian that may or may not hypnotize and/or drug you to figure out if you are a creature of the night and potentially dangerous to our lives?'" I asked.

"Maybe we should wait until we know each other better for that question," suggested Kira.

"But the new pack will smell her, too," Liam pointed out. My heart lurched a little at the idea of a violent pack getting their hands on Blake.

"How strong is the smell?" Derek asked, moving over to his bed.

"Liam noticed right away but I didn't recognize it for a while. It was when I noticed that she could hear further away than she should be able to that I caught the scent," Scott reported. I thought of his weird looks at lacrosse practice. Derek reached under his bed and pulled out a lockbox, which he opened.

"If you can get her to wear this it should distract from her scent," he said, pulling out a necklace with a glass charm at the end of a leather cord. The charm was the size of a quarter and had blue flower petals pressed in between the glass panes.

"What is that? I can't smell you anymore," Isaac asked in amazement.

"I'm not sure," Derek admitted. "But it works." Scott and Liam nodded in agreement.

"So Stiles can give it to her tomorrow," Isaac said.

"It can't be Stiles," Lydia said, finally calming down from her angry rant and turning logical again. "It would be totally creepy for a boy to give you jewelry after knowing them for two days. She wouldn't wear it. It has to be Kira."

"Me?" Kira squeaked. "Why not you?"

"Because I've been mean to her," Lydia admitted. "Just say it's some Japanese thing for good luck and tell her to wear it every day since she just started at a new school."

"I guess I can do that," Kira said nervously, and Scott smiled encouragingly at her.

"So what are we going to do about the new pack?" I asked.

"They know we're here. They want to know what we know as much as we want to know what they want," Derek said. "It will be like last time. They'll put people at the school; they'll be watching you guys. Start hanging out with more humans," he suggested. We thought back to 'last time' when we had lost people and what we had been through, our scars barely starting to heal.

"We can watch out for each other," Scott said with confidence.

We all tried to believe him.

"It's for good luck," Kira explained. Blake was holding the necklace in her hand, in the hallway before fourth period.

"You should wear it every day, since you're starting at a new school," Scott suggested and Kira nodded emphatically. Blake narrowed her eyes at their insistence but put the necklace on, the charm resting just under the neck line of her t-shirt saying 'Biologists take cellfies' in big green letters with a picture of a microscope.

"I will. It's really pretty. Thanks," she said, brushing their intensity off and assuaging our fears that she wouldn't wear it.

"Do you want to have lunch with us today?" I asked. We had decided it was safer to keep her close but also have some extra humans around to avoid suspicion being drawn to her.

"I don't think all of your friends like me," she said, obviously meaning Lydia.

"She'll get over it," I said. Scott and Kira rushed off to their class and Blake followed them with her eyes, as if watching for something, but then turned back to me as I walked her to her class, which was next to mine.

"My dad and I wanted to thank you for the dinner, by the way. It was really delicious." Blake colored slightly.

"It's not a big deal," she said.

"It is. So thank you," I said and she ducked her head. "Actually, he invited you over this weekend for dinner to repay you."

"That's really not necessary," she assured me.

"We insist. Is Saturday at five okay?" She bit her lip and I forgot what I had asked her as I stared at it.

"Yeah, that sounds great," she said and my mind caught up to me, but I still stumbled over my words.

"Oh. O-okay! Good! I g-guess I'll see you at lunch then!" I stuttered before stepping into my classroom quickly.

"Are you sure it's okay that I sit with you guys?" Bake asked again as we collected our lunches. Our table was fuller than normal, with Danny and some of the other lacrosse players welcoming Isaac back, but there were still two open seats for us.

"Of course it is," I reassured her. I pulled out her chair for her and she slid into her seat, smiling at Scott and Kira and glancing nervously at Lydia.

"You're new," Isaac said to her abruptly from across the table.

"Yeah, I just transferred. I'm Blake," she introduced herself and shook Isaac's hand, holding her brave face against the narrowing of his eyes and cold look.

"Yeah, she made a big entrance yesterday, too. You should be sorry you missed it Isaac," Lydia said rudely. I shot her a look as Blake cleared her throat and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"I really like your shirt," Danny said from the seat next to me. Blake mumbled a 'thanks' and when I sent Danny a grateful look, he merely nodded.

"Chemistry is going to kill me this year," Scott groaned, trying to study for a quiz.

"Maybe Blake could give you some pointers. She does work for a pharmaceutical company," Kira suggested.

"Maybe Blake can become our personal assistant so we can be around her all the damn time. It looks like she could use the money," Lydia said acidly. I stood up quickly.

"Lydia, can I talk to you for a second?" I asked before turning and walking, leaving her no choice. I waited for her outside the lunchroom.

"What do you want, Stiles?" she said exasperatedly.

"I just want to know what's going on here. We agreed on having her sit with us, and it's not like she's mean or annoying. She hasn't said one mean thing to you and you are attacking and embarrassing her in front of the whole school. What is your problem?"

"Look, I'm sorry but she's weird. And you're too busy fawning over her to remember that she is something supernatural and that we can't trust her. We don't know her Stiles!"

"Are you jealous?" I asked suddenly. I don't know where I got the confidence to utter those words, but suddenly, they were out. Lydia gaped.

"Stiles, why would you even—"

"Because you're being possessive, Lydia. You did this with Malia too but she didn't put up with your crap."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lydia tried.

"Yes you do! It bothers you that I'm not fawning over you anymore like a lost puppy. But I don't want to be that guy anymore. So, Lydia, either look me in the eyes and tell me that I have a chance for ever being with you or accept that I need to move on!" I blurted out. Lydia, avoided my gaze, at least having the decency to look ashamed. "That's what I thought." I turned to walk away.

"You're different you know," Lydia called out after me. "More confident, more sure of yourself. And you should be. You're a great guy Stiles I just—"

"Don't feel that way about me. I get it Lydia and I don't blame you. But I can't keep being strung along. So why do you have to—"

"Because you're gentle with her," Lydia blurted. "And you used to be gentle with me." I stood in shock as she turned around and walked down the hallway.

When I returned to the lunch table Blake was laughing with Danny, and I was relieved that some of the awkwardness had dissipated. She gave me an anxious glance but I just gave her a small smile. Later when some had left the table, she turned to me.

"Is Lydia okay?" she asked. I rolled my eyes at her concern for the girl who had been so mean to her.

"She's fine," I brushed off, though Lydia's display of emotion and insecurity had thrown me off a bit.

"You guys have history," Blake guessed.

"No, not like that. But we are very close. All of us are."

"Danny told me you guys have been through a lot." I looked at her sympathetic face and big green eyes and suddenly I just wanted to give her a hug. Before I could do or say anything though, Lydia appeared in front of us.

"I wanted to say I was sorry for earlier. I hope we can move past it and be friends," Lydia said quietly. Though she was trying not to make a scene, heads turned in our direction from all across the lunchroom. Lydia Martin did not apologize to just anyone. What Blake might not have understood is that by doing this in the lunch room and in public, Lydia was offering more than just an apology, but a stamp of approval on the new girl. She was Lydia's territory now and anyone who mistreated her would be punished. Lydia held her hand out in a truce, and everyone seemed to hold their breath.

"Of course," Blake said easily and shook her hand. As soon as their hands touched Lydia's eyes flew open wide and she glanced at me. Thankfully, Blake didn't notice and the lunch room had turned back to their food.

"I have to go start a lab but I'll see you guys later," Blake said and stood up to leave. We all waved goodbye and then found ourselves alone at the table. Lydia quickly sat down with the rest of the pack.

"I felt something weird. She felt like…death," Lydia whispered to us.

"Like she's going to kill all of us?" Isaac suggested.

"No, no," Lydia brushed off. "Like she has died." She looked worriedly over to where Blake was exiting the lunch room.

"What like a near death experience?" I asked.

"Maybe," Lydia said but didn't seem convinced.

After lacrosse practice, Scott and I were cornered in the locker room by Danny.

"What's up with you guys and Blake?" he asked threateningly.

"What? Nothing. We're friends! Nothing," I stumbled. Scott rolled his eyes and Danny glared at me.

"Do you know why she transferred?" Danny asked.

"No. Do you?" Scott said, suddenly interested.

"I thought I recognized seeing her before, but I didn't want to ask her with all the drama at the lunch table already," Danny said sharing a pointed look with me. "I texted a guy that went to her old school after lunch and then I remembered where I had seen her," Danny paused. "I knew her boyfriend."

"The soccer player?" I asked and Danny nodded. "Liam mentioned him. He said he was a dick."

"He's also a sociopath and completely insane. I guess when she broke up with him two months ago he started stalking her and then beat her up pretty well a few weeks ago. She almost died but he didn't get in trouble for it." Scott and I exchanged shocked looks. "I'm only telling you this because I think you should be careful with her. She doesn't need any more trouble and you two are like the definition of trouble," Danny accused before walking out.

"I don't know Stiles. All of us have had near death experiences and we don't feel the same way that she did," Lydia told me.

"None of us have been beaten close to death," I pointed out. Derek snorted as if he would beg to differ. "While we were human," I continued. "I doubt being beat as a werewolf is as traumatizing considering you're healing at the same time."

"Still," Lydia said and I could tell she wasn't buying the near death theory.

"So she is supernatural," Kira prompted. Lydia shrugged.

"Maybe she's a vampire," Isaac suggested and Liam and I glared at him.

"Someone cut themselves in Chemistry yesterday and she didn't freak out or anything," Lydia revealed, as if Blake being a vampire was a possibility. I shot her a look. "What? If werewolves are real why can't vampires be?"

It was Saturday morning and we were all at Lydia's house, waiting for Scott to come back from picking up Deaton. We wanted to tell him about the new pack in town and see if he knew anything about Blake.

"Why are we here again?" Derek asked. He had voted to have this team meeting at the loft.

"Because your apartment is freezing and frankly, feels like a graveyard. Too many people have died there. You need a new place," Lydia said unapologetically. We all knew it was true. Scott and Deaton arrived a second later and let themselves into the house.

"I know about the new pack," Deaton said without preamble. "Their emissary was at the office yesterday."

"You didn't think that worth sharing until this morning?" Isaac asked.

"I've been researching. Sarai implied that they were looking for a new supernatural in town. Something I haven't heard of in a very long time." We all exchanged glances and Deaton noticed. "What do you know?"

"There's a new girl at school that smells supernatural," Scott explained. Deaton immediately relaxed.

"It's very unlikely to find one as a youth. She might be something but she isn't our top priority," Deaton said and I relaxed. We still didn't know what Blake was but at least there wasn't an army of werewolves after her.

"So what are they looking for?" Kira asked. Deaton set a book that looked ancient on the coffee table. He opened to a page that Lydia took interest in.

"Qui praecipit illa impiorum," she read. "She who commands the wicked."

"This is all I could find but as far as I can tell, this person has the power to command werewolves and any other supernatural creature," Deaton said.

"Werewolves in a werewolf army," Derek concluded. "They are trying to cut out the unpredictability of each werewolf and create organized killers."

"It's in our best interest to find this person before the other pack does," Deaton agreed. "The Commander is someone with years of experience with werewolves, developing a natural ability to control them. That's why it's unlikely that your friend is the target."

"So, basically you," Liam said to Deaton, who gave him a small smile.

"I hardly consider myself able to control any of you. And the Commander is always a female," he corrected.

"So we're looking for some old hag that looks like she can control werewolves?" Isaac asked. Deaton shrugged.

"More or less," he said. I sighed and stood up.

"Well, I have to go clean my house. Call me if anything goes wrong," I said, turning away from the shocked looks.

"Did he just say he was going to go…clean?" Isaac asked.

"Blake's coming over," Kira explained as I walked out the door, rolling my eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Dad was heating up buttermilk syrup when there was a knock at the door. I ran to get it, ignoring my fathers amused look, and opened the door. Blake stood there in black cutoffs and a white t-shirt that read 'Lazy is a very strong word. I like to call it selective participation.' Her hair was glowing from the porch light.

"Hi," she said with an easy smile. I grinned back and let her inside.

"Hi," I mimicked. "We're having breakfast for dinner. I hope that's okay."

"As long as your dad is cooking. I heard a rumor that you can't handle frozen burritos," she teased.

"I have stayed far away from the food," I promised hands up as if to prove I was innocent.

"Blake, how are you?" my dad said as we entered the kitchen/dining area.

"I'm well, thank you Sheriff. You really didn't need to do this," Blake said politely.

"It's our pleasure," my dad assured her. She helped me set the table as my dad flipped pancakes. It was nice to hear Blake laugh and to not be talking about the supernatural for a while.

"How long have you worked at the police station, Sheriff?" Blake asked as we started to eat.

"Since I graduated from Beacon Hills High, when the dinosaurs were alive," my dad joked. Blake rolled her eyes as if to say she didn't believe he was old at all.

"Do you enjoy it?"

"I enjoy helping people," my dad answered. "And there are lots of ways to do that, but it seems that I'm good at this one." Blake nodded. My dad gave me a hesitant glance but then decided to continue. "Have you talked with Deputy Valentine?"

"I did speak with him today," Blake said, her shoulders tensing but nodding appreciatively at the concern on my dad's face. "And he said I'm in good hands with you here." Dad nodded. After that the conversation moved to safer regions and we were all laughing comfortably when dad got called in.

"Nothing serious, just a paperwork thing," he assured us. "I hope to see you soon, Blake!" he called over his shoulder. I frowned slightly as the door closed.

"You worry about him," Blake said and I turned to her. She was leaning her head on her hand and looking at me thoughtfully. "You take care of each other."

"Yeah," I said, surprised at her. "But he's important. He takes care of people. So if someone's bugging you or you're ever in trouble you can call us." I was thinking of her ex. She nodded and gave me a bittersweet smile.

"He told you about Dax?" she asked. I was worried she would be angry but she only sounded…sad.

"No, Danny did." She thought for a second and nodded again.

"He dated one of the other soccer players. I didn't think he recognized me at lunch the other day."

"I didn't mean to invade your privacy—"

"No, Stiles," she said, smiling again. "It's fine. It's not a secret or anything." We sat in silence for a minute before she continued. "He wasn't always a dick. He could be really sweet with me. But those are the most dangerous, the sweet ones. The first time he hit me, he cried and asked me to forgive him, then told me we would be together forever if I didn't make him angry. That's when I knew I had to get out. The delusional ones are dangerous, too." She stood up and started to clear the table, putting dishes in the sink.

"You sound like you have experience," I said softly, kind of hoping I was wrong. She shrugged as she started to wash, handing me clean dishes to dry and put away.

"I grew up in the foster system. You get a few bad homes," she explained.

"I'm sorry." She waved off my words and smiled as if to say that it was done with now. I decided to not press her anymore. "So, now that I'm done interrogating you, do you want to watch a movie or something? The night is still young!"

"Sure," Blake agreed. We ended up not watching a movie, but watching reruns of Fringe.

"I can't believe you like this show," I said, turning to her in awe as the third episode started.

"It has _no_ plot holes and Olivia Dunham is a badass," she defended.

"It's an awesome show, you don't have to convince me," I joked. Just then, my dad walked in the room and groaned at our choice in entertainment.

"Stiles, are you forcing our guest to watch sci-fi TV?"

"No, Dad, Blake loves it probably more than I do. I don't know if we can have her over anymore-she's too big of a nerd!" I teased and Blake gasped and threw a piece of popcorn at my head.

"Your son is going to get his butt kicked if he keeps being so cheeky," Blake said to my dad.

"He deserves it," my dad said with a smile before moving to go upstairs. I sobered, watching him roll his shoulders with a frown. I was distracted by Blake poking me in the ribs with her bare feet. I turned to see her smiling and instantly grinned back, grabbing her foot and yanking her towards me on the couch.

"Cheeky, huh?" I said our faces now inches apart.

"Mm-hmm," she retorted breathily. I smirked at her and then kissed her lightly on the cheek. She smiled and put her hand on my chest, pushing herself back to her side of the couch.

"You tease," she complained, looking back towards the television. I smiled and watched her for a second before turning back to the show.

"Good morning," Blake greeted everyone on Monday. We all greeted her, quickly stopping our conversation about the full moon in two weeks. Blake was wearing a black t-shirt that said 'I don't trip; I do random gravity checks' and red shorts.

"Your shirt suits you," Lydia teased, but her hesitant smile suggested it was all in fun. Blake beamed at her, obviously pleased she wasn't being harassed, and shrugged.

"I thought so," she said.

"Blake, Lydia and I were wondering if you wanted to go shopping with us after school today," Kira asked hopefully.

"That sounds like fun. What are we shopping for?" Blake said easily. I loved that she was becoming more comfortable with our group.

"We're all going out on Friday. Team bonding, if you like. Dinner, mini golf, and then to a club. Are you in?" Scott asked, arm around Kira.

"Sure, that sounds like fun!" Blake agreed. The first bell rang and we all began to wander inside, Blake and I at the back. She was excited about something and seemed to be smiling to herself.

"Are you going to explode?" I asked her.

"Maybe!" she laughed. "I'm just excited because my best friend Tabi is coming for a day visit next week."

"That's really cool," I offered. Blake nodded.

"She's going to pick me up after school, so maybe she can meet you guys for a few minutes before practice. She said she was looking forward to it."

"You told her about me?" I said with a cocky grin. Blake rolled her eyes.

"I told her there was this annoying kid that invited himself over and then used his dad's position as sheriff to force me to have dinner at his house. He also made me sit with all his weird friends at lunch," she teased. "She's probably going to pepper spray you."

"I'd love to meet her," I said seriously. We continued walking but then stopped a second later to avoid running into Isaac's back. The whole group was stock still. They were staring at a black woman in front of us, dressed in a startlingly white skirt and coral suit jacket, high heels making her close to 6 foot. Her curly hair was cut short to her head and her dark eyes were watching us hungrily, lips pulled back in a sneer. As I watched, her eyes flicked red for just a second, before she turned and strode powerfully inside with a predatory smile. I glanced back at Blake who had caught the apprehensive air of the group and was staring after the woman. We all shared a panicked look before I pulled Blake off to class. She was quiet on the way, thinking about something, and glancing at me every once in a while. I dropped her off at class with a quick goodbye.

"Lydia saw her in the office with the principal before she left after second period," Liam told me in a whisper.

"We'll know what she wants soon enough. She wasn't exactly subtle," I whispered back to him, and Isaac nodded, the three of us huddled together in the hallway.

"In the meantime we better keep up appearances," Isaac said before striding off.

We had a conditioning practice after school so I got dressed in sweats and a t-shirt. I was walking out to the field when I caught sight of Lydia and Kira.

"Are you sure we should be out shopping?" Kira was asking as I walked up.

"I need some retail therapy and I'm not going to let that amazon bitch ruin my fun," Lydia said adamantly.

"I think it's a good idea. And Blake is excited," I said.

"She's stalling at her locker," Kira told me and Lydia scoffed.

"Go collect your girlfriend and bring her to my car. We're leaving in five minutes," Lydia ordered, shooing me with her hand. I shot her a look but obeyed.

Blake jumped when I leaned on the lockers next to hers.

"Oh, hey Stiles," she squeaked. "I was just—"

"Stalling," I finished for her. "I thought you were excited."

"I was!" Blake reassured me. "But then I remembered that I _hate_ shopping." I smirked, relieved that that was all this was about.

"If you're going to be friends with Lydia, you're going to have to get used to it," I reminded her, and tried to gently pull her away. She groaned and resisted me like a small child. I smirked at her mischievously and then bent down and threw her over my shoulder.

"Stiles Stilinski, put me down this instant!" she squealed as I closed her locker and started to walk away. She was light, and my hands rested easily on the back of her knees, keeping her in place I tried not to think too much about touching her legs. She squirmed for a second but I only hoisted her up into a better position. She stopped once she realized she wasn't going to get down without hurting me, herself, or both.

"This is unfair," she huffed as we made it outside.

"I never said I played by the rules, sweetheart," I teased as I walked over to Lydia's car. Kira was trying to stifle giggles and Lydia was smirking at us. I let Blake down and opened the door for her. She shot me a glare and climbed in with a huff.

"I'll make it up to you with ice cream and a Fringe marathon after studying on Thursday," I told her and she frowned, but I knew it was less because she was still angry with me and more because she wasn't. I smiled and shut her door but leaned in Lydia's open window.

"It's her first time shopping with you," I reminded Lydia. "Be gentle."

"I'm always gentle when it's somebody's first time," Lydia retorted suggestively and then pushed me out the window.

"Have fun girls!" I called as Kira and Lydia laughed and Blake flipped me off.

**This was a filler chapter and kind of short but I'll be updating real soon with some more action and suspense! Tell me what you think—suggestions are appreciated!**


	5. Chapter 5

** So there are some new characters in this chapter and I based some of them off of actors so you kind of have a visual of what I was thinking they looked like. **

**Oliver: Brant Dougherty**

**Beatrice: a younger Rachel Lefevre **

**Katie: Camren Bicondova**

**Trevor: Zach Roerig**

"Don't give me that face!" Blake told me next to her locker the next day.

"What face is that?"

"The 'I know you had fun shopping with Lydia and Kira just like I told you' face. The 'I was right' face," she explained, waving her hand in front of my face. I smirked at her.

"I'm right so often that it has become my natural face," I revealed and she snorted, turning back to her locker. She was wearing some sort of jumper thing that was dark blue with white pinstripes, a belt at the waist showing off her skinny frame, and the straps leaving plenty of skin and tan shoulder to be seen. It was the first time I had seen her not wearing a novelty t-shirt and I was shocked at how narrow her shoulders were and how dainty she looked. I still missed her normal wear.

"What is this?" I asked, linking a finger through the skinny belt and drawing her a little closer to me.

"It's called a romper," she told me. "Lydia gave me a bunch of old clothes that she's never worn and instructed me to wear them."

"I like it. But I like your t-shirts too." She finally closed her locker and turned towards me, grabbing onto the collar of my flannel. I realized she had wedges on, making her only two or three inches shorter than me. "And I like this height advantage," I said, tucking her blond waves behind an ear. Blake hummed in agreement and my arms found their way around her waist.

"Sorry to interrupt," a voice said from behind Blake. "But I think you're on my locker." I gave the guy an annoyed look but Blake only smiled at me and then pulled me off the lockers.

"We're really sorry," she said. The guy was looking at us and something about him made me stop. He was young, with dark messy hair and blue eyes but something about his smile made me uneasy, and I had never seen him before.

"You new here?" I asked, one of my arms still around Blake's waist.

"Yeah, just found our way here about a week ago," the boy said, smirking at me. "The name's Oliver Krieger."

"Stiles," I introduced myself but didn't reach out to shake his hand and he didn't offer one. He glanced at Blake but she frowned and didn't introduce herself.

"Stiles…you're friends with Scott McCall, right?" Oliver asked. I narrowed my eyes and nodded. "He's the talk of the town!" Oliver said with a smile. "Lacrosse captain, veterinary assistant, cute girlfriend, and a motorcycle. He's the real alpha male," the boy stated with a roguish grin. I tried not to react but from the wicked smile the kid was giving me it didn't really matter what I did. The bell rang and Blake picked her bag up before putting her hand in the crook of my arm to lead me away.

"You better go, Krieger," she said, not sounding super friendly. "Don't want to make a bad impression on your first day." She pulled me away quickly and I walked her to her classroom.

"That kid was weird," I said, trying to shake off the feeling of dread that had settled around me. Blake didn't respond and I looked over to find her frowning at the ground. "Hey," I said, turning her to face me and trying to distract her. "I'll see you at lunch, okay?" She nodded, still frowning, but before she could enter the classroom I grabbed her hand and pulled her back, letting my hands rest on her hips.

"Did I mention earlier that you look great today?" I asked, finally getting her to smile at me. She put a hand on my chest and gently shoved me away from her.

"Keep it in your pants, Stilinski," she said as she turned and walked into her classroom.

"I heard they moved here from Arizona. They're all adopted and live with their mom," a lacrosse player whispered. Rumors were flying about the four new kids with the last name of Krieger. All of us had classes with them and they had been giving very member of the pack mildly threatening looks all day but other than Oliver this morning, none of them had spoken to us. There was Oliver, a 'sophomore' that was presently smirking at us from their table across the lunchroom. Then there was Beatrice, a junior in most of my classes with tightly curled red hair and slanted blue eyes that was laughing at something her brother had just said. More somber than the other two were Trevor, a blonde haired and blue eyed solid block of muscle that was in twelfth grade, and Katie, a freshman with curly locks but up around her cheeks and calculating eyes, a fierce figure even at 5'1". All of them, sitting at their table and staring straight at us. Isaac was getting irritated.

"So this is going to go like last time? We let them walk all over us?" Isaac whispered to Scott but we could all hear him. Scott shot him a look as if to say 'not now'. Isaac huffed and dumped his lunch in the trash before leaving the lunchroom. Oliver and Beatrice looked amused by this but Trevor and Katie continued to watch us with blank expressions. Danny came over with Blake and we all relaxed a bit, happy to have some humanity at the table. Other than myself, of course. Blake took the chair next to me and I leaned back in my seat, putting an arm around the back of her chair and smiling in greeting. She returned it but then glanced worriedly over to the Krieger's table. And froze. I watched as her face went from shocked to confused to happy in an instant. I followed her gaze to the table, where nothing had changed except for Trevor was looking like he had seen a ghost. But then he too broke into a grin. Unlike his siblings, this one seemed genuine. Blake pushed back from the table and stood, meeting him between the tables and throwing her arms around him with a laugh. As Trevor spun her around the only thing that could compare to the shocked looks at our table were the ones from the Krieger's. I frowned and was about to stand when Lydia put a hand on my arm.

"Take a breath first. She's fine," Lydia whispered. I tried to calm down, unclenching my fists that I hadn't realized I'd clenched. I stood up with Scott, more calmly this time.

"I can't believe it's you!" Blake was saying, beaming at Trevor. "You're so grown up!"

"Look who's talking, sorellina! You look like a model! The last time I saw you, you had buck teeth and knobby knees!" he responded, smiling warmly at Blake.

"As I recall, I also had a fat lip, black eye, and seven stitches for saving your ass," Blake laughed, punching him on the arm. He winced at the memory, looking a bit guilty.

"Yeah, well I can hold my own now," he said, sobering as he watched Scott and I approach. Blake seemed to remember where she was too, glancing back at the table Trevor had vacated and then giving me a nervous smile. I returned it and she took a step back to stand next to me, close enough that I put a reassuring hand on her back.

"Stiles, Scott, this is Trevor. He was my foster brother when I was living in Nevada," she explained. I took another breath before shaking his hand, Trevor nodding solemnly at both Scott and I. "Trevor, these are my friends Scott and Stiles." Trevor glanced at my hand that was still resting on Blake but I didn't move it, and she didn't move away.

"We should catch up later, sorellina," Trevor said sadly. Blake glanced over to his table once again, where his adoptive siblings were scowling at her.

"Yeah," she agreed soberly. Trevor nodded to us again before returning to his seat. We took his cue and returned to our table, and lunch was finished in quiet apprehension, Blake picking at her food with a frown. The pack exchanged glances, not sure what to do with this new development and not sure what had caused Blake's mood swing. I took another deep breath, deciding that we would cross the foster brother bridge when we came to it.

After changing for lacrosse practice I was walking to the field when I caught sight of Blake talking with Trevor. I was about to go over to them but someone caught my arm.

"You're going to freak her out with this jealous, overprotective thing you're doing," Lydia warned but her tone spoke of more than just worry for my friendship with Blake. She led me further away from the pair so that Trevor couldn't listen in on us with his wolfy hearing.

"I'm not jealous, I'm worried," I protested.

"She's okay. He's her foster brother, he's really not the one you need to be worrying about," she reasoned but I only frowned. "And you are jealous."

"He calls her sorellina," I said grumpily, not trying to hide my distaste for the boy. I was totally jealous. Lydia snorted.

"Which is Italian for 'little sister'," she informed me. That made me feel better, but I was still frowning. Lydia pursed her lips at me. "Look, I don't want this to go to your head, but you have no need to be jealous. You guys are like grossly into each other." I rolled my eyes at this. "No, seriously, Stiles. And she's different than Malia. You aren't afraid or nervous around her."

"I don't know what you're talking about Lydia," I said, exasperated at her cryptic-ness.

"I'm talking about how this morning, when I went to see Blake's outfit, I had to stop and pinch myself to see if I was dreaming. Because there was Stiles Stilinski, not stumbling over his words or tripping over his feet, but confidently wooing a gorgeous girl. You were putting your moves all over her, wrapping your arms around her, tucking her hair behind her ear. I mean, what the hell happened Stiles? Last I checked you were still a loser," Lydia said snidely before walking away. I frowned at her but decided to take it as a compliment. A poorly given one, but still.

Scott came up beside me just as the rest of the Kriegers appeared and Trevor gave Blake a hug goodbye with a frown. Then they all climbed into the back of a red minivan. In the driver's seat was the black woman from the other day. She gave us a wicked smile before driving off. Blake turned and gave us a sad smile and a wave before heading to her car.

"Katie is in _all _of my classes," Liam complained as I unpacked junk food and take out onto the counter.

"Liam, you don't have to be a part of this," Scott said worriedly. "We can make it known that you are off limits." I rolled my eyes at this because even attempting something like that would only make Liam a bigger target. Scott's protectiveness of his one actual, straight-from-the-teeth beta was romantic and all but there was nothing he could do.

"I'll be fine, Scott," Liam reassured him. He was about to say something else but there was a knock at the door and a second later we heard it open.

"Can I come in?" Blake yelled from the entryway but then entered regardless, closing the door behind her. I smirked at Scott who was rolling his eyes.

"She has more in common with you than I realized," he muttered to me. Blake walked into the kitchen wearing running shorts and a jacket that she was holding tightly around herself.

"In honor of the Thursday night math quiz cram session, I have worn a motivational shirt for you Liam," she said and then opened her jacket, revealing an orange shirt with blue lettering that read '4 out of 3 people struggle with math.'

"Thanks for the vote of confidence B!" Liam groaned, but complied when she gave him an over-enthusiastic high-five. She skipped past Liam further into the kitchen.

"Scotty," she acknowledged, ruffling his hair. She turned to where I was still standing by the counter. "Stiles." She kissed my cheek with an exaggerated 'mwah' and then looked to the snacks. "Ooh, Twizzler's!"

"What's wrong with you?" Scott asked, chuckling t her behavior and my slight embarrassment at her kiss.

"I had some caffeine on my way over!" Blake sing-songed to him.

"Ugh, you're going to be no fun tomorrow! You're such a lightweight you'll probably pass out after two shots!" Scott teased.

"I am NOT a lightweight," Blake argued adamantly, shaking her index finger at him. "I can hold my liquor. You'll see."

Blake's jitters and excitement died down a bit as she helped Liam over the next hour or so, as math naturally does to a person's mood.

"That's enough of that," I decided finally, dropping my books on the floor with a bang. "It's movie time!"

"I can't stay. I promised Kira that I would have dinner with her family tonight," Scott said with a yawn.

"Tell her we say hi," Liam said before grabbing a bowl of popcorn and throwing himself on the couch in the living room Scott said his goodbyes and then left, leaving Blake and I alone in the kitchen.

"Coming down from your caffeine high?" I asked and Blake nodded grumpily. "Want to replace it with a sugar high?" She nodded again but this time with a smile and I threw her a package of Twizzler's, a Reese's bar, and a Twix.

"You have excellent taste in calories, Mr. Stilinski," she said, saluting me before making her way into the living room. When I followed her I found Captain America already playing and Liam sitting in the recliner, leaving the couch for Blake and me. We settled into the movie, Blake tucking her bare feet under my thigh to keep them warm and my arm resting lazily on her bent knees. By the time Bucky Barnes was falling to an icy death, Liam was fast asleep and snoring loudly.

"Who falls asleep during Captain America?" Blake asked, sounding scandalized. We had rearranged ourselves, my head resting in her lap and her fingers lazily running through my hair. I looked up at her messy hair and green eyes watching intently, eyelashes fanning over her cheeks.

"You're comfy," I suddenly blurted. She looked down at me with a smirk, lips twitching up at the corners in a way that made me want to kiss her senseless. Damn, I was falling for her bad.

"Is that a fat joke?" she asked, clearly amused at my choice in words. I rolled my eyes.

"That's not what I meant," I said, deciding to sit up so I could look her in the eye. I crossed my legs and she turned towards me, mirroring my position. "I mean that I like how I'm comfortable with you. I like snuggling with you on the couch and being allowed to tuck your hair behind your ear," I said and Blake smiled hesitantly, obviously not understanding what I was talking about. "But Lydia said something the other day that…I just don't want to come on too strong or scare you off. I just want to make sure that you feel…"

"Comfortable," she finished for me with a smirk, but it was more serious than the one before. She seemed to think for a second, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes at me before coming to a decision. "I am," she told me. I beamed at her and she laughed, shoving me lightly. "Gosh, you are such a cheeseball!" she giggled.

After the movie was done, we woke Liam who went upstairs to use the bathroom before I took him home. I walked Blake out to her car, breath fogging in the cool night air and the porch lights letting off just enough light to give Blake a halo of white hair and a rosy quality. I opened the car door for her but she didn't get in. Instead, she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me close in a hug. I wrapped an arm around her waist and my other hand played with the ends of her hair as she buried her face in my neck, her nose cold against my skin.

"You're comfy too," she mumbled before slowly releasing me, coming down off of her tip toes and climbing into her car. I waited until her car was out of sight before going back in the house.

**Party night and some more action coming soon! Thanks for reading and suggestions are appreciated!**


	6. Chapter 6

Adding to our excitement on Friday was the relief that the Kriegers were not at school.

"Lydia, Blake, and I are getting ready together after school. You can pick us up at Blake's," Kira was telling Scott as we sat down for lunch. Scott was borrowing his mom's car to take the girls and I was bringing Liam and Isaac. Derek had been invited but had said something about having better things to do.

"Oh!" I said, suddenly remembering something. I turned to Blake in her chair next to me. "Do you have a fake ID?" She snorted.

"I was a foster kid. Of course I have a fake ID," she scoffed. She pulled out her wallet and I watched as she unbuttoned a hidden sleeve at the back and displayed an assortment of ID, all pictures of Blake with varying names, hair colors, ages, piercings, and some featured her wearing glasses. My eyes widened.

"You're well prepared," I commented. She smiled at my shock and turned to put her wallet away. She was wearing a gray t-shirt dress and converse and she looked inviting in a way that reminded me of laundry detergent commercials. I played with the collection of leather bracelets on her wrist absentmindedly as the table continued to chat about tonight. I eventually got tired of the conversation.

"Will you go on a walk with me?" I asked Blake quietly. She nodded and I stood, leading her away by the hand and leaving out stuff at the table. We were quiet as we went up the stairs to the second floor and into the floral classroom. I led her over to the balcony where, because of the cooler weather, there were only a few pots of leafy plants set out to soak in the sun. There was a light breeze and it was cool outside, verging on chilly, but the sun was warm on our skin. Blake smiled and leaned over the balcony, looking out over the lacrosse field to the forest beyond, resting her elbows on the railing.

"Do you know what this exact spot is?" I asked her, breaking the silence. She turned to me and my heart skipped a beat. Her hair was brushing her cheeks from the wind and her green eyes were clear and crinkled in the light. I was almost jealous of the sunlight that got to kiss her tan skin, her collar bone and her long legs. "This spot is where nothing bad has ever happened," I told her. "No bullies have chased me, no snide comments from Lydia have been said, and no panic attacks have happened here." No killer werewolves, no trained assassins, and the nogitsune never visited here. "It's not like the gym where I have been humiliated for years and it's not the parking lot where my dad got hit by a car." It's not the pool where I almost drowned with Derek or the lacrosse field where I watched Peter attack Lydia. "It's just the floral room. No bad memories attached." Blake looked at me thoughtfully, but I was expecting a direct response to this. I looked out over the field but turned back when she started talking, facing away from me.

"Do you know what the worst part of having a photographic memory is? It's not ever being able to forget. Nothing fades away. I will always remember the change in my foster father's eyes as he lost control of his temper. I'll always see Trevor as a thirteen year old in the hospital with broken ribs, lying his ass off so he could stay with me. I'll always remember the indifference on the face of the first boy who broke my heart when he decided he didn't want me anymore. I'll always remember seeing my broken window and Dax waiting for me in the dark, looking numb enough to kill me." She paused and took a deep breath, turning towards me. "But the best part is that I don't have to forget the great things. I won't forget Trevor's face when he taught me how to ride a bike. I won't forget Liam's victory dance when he finally understood a geometry concept. And I'll never forget how you look right now, standing on this balcony with me." She came closer to me and put her hand on my cheek softly. She searched my eyes for a second and then rose on her tip toes to press a light kiss on my lips. "Thank you for sharing this with me," she whispered. I pressed a kiss on her forehead and then wrapped my arms around her, my hands bunching her soft dress at her back, the material sliding easily over her smooth skin. I rested my head on her shoulder and breathed her in; the smell of clean laundry, sun kissed skin, and her faint perfume. I pressed another kiss on her collar bone and then straightened, tucking her hair behind an ear and letting my hand linger in her waves.

"We getter get back to lunch," I said regretfully. She nodded, giving me an easy smile. We went back inside and I was about to open the door to leave the classroom when I turned back and stared at her. She tilted her head to the side like a puppy, smiling at me.

"What is it?" she asked.

"That was a really good first kiss," I told her and she blushed slightly. I hesitated, but then made up my mind, placing my hands on her cheeks and kissing her. Our second kiss was different, harder and more confident. She tasted like mint and she made my lips tingle. My hands moved into her hair as her hands grasped at the sides of my t-shirt, pulling me closer to her. I finally released her and she took a deep breath before meeting my eyes with a teasing smile.

"That was a really good second kiss," she said.

…

"There's no way they're going to let you in!" Isaac laughed at Liam in the backseat. "You look like you're twelve!" Liam did look a little young, with his hair gelled precisely he looked a little like a schoolboy.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," I suggested to Liam, who now looked a little worried. We were driving to the 'fancy' restaurant, also known as Applebee's. We arrived a little early so we got a corner booth and sat down. Isaac and Liam were arguing when the others arrived. Scott and Kira walked in holding hands, Kira looking adorable in a green skater dress. Lydia came into sight next looking fantastic, as always, in a purple spaghetti strap cocktail number. But my jaw nearly dropped when I saw Blake. She was wearing a tight, blood red dress, cutting off well before her knee, with a startlingly white blazer on top, contrasting with her tan skin. She was wearing more makeup than normal making her green eyes pop and her hair was a wild mess of shiny waves. I stood up too quickly, earning smirks from the lot as I narrowly avoided banging my head on a hanging light.

"Y-you look stunning," I told her. My heart was beating wildly like I was about to have a panic attack and all the werewolves who could hear it were giving me worried looks like I was about to pass out. This was not the Blake that I snuggled with on the couch. This was a goddess standing in front of me and I felt anything but comfortable. And it was great.

"Thank you," she said, smiling. "So do you." She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, heels assisting her, and slid into the booth, making room for me on the end. I took a deep breath and sat down. After that, the conversation came easy and we ate our fill of steak fries and burgers. Isaac and Lydia mercilessly picked at each other and Blake would whisper in Liam's ear, making him crack up at whatever she had said. I found her hand under the table and she smiled at me, squeezing my hand before turning back to Kira's story of Scott's first dinner with her parents.

After all the dirty plates had been taken away, we were talking and laughing. The wait staff didn't care too much because the place was practically empty and Lydia had given them a huge tip with her dad's credit card. I was laughing at Isaac, who had spilled the entire salt shaker on his lap when I caught sight of Derek coming into the restaurant. I frowned and caught Scott's eye, glancing over to Derek again. Scott stood up, saying something about the bathroom. When I turned back to the table Blake was frowning down at her lap, chewing on a straw distractedly.

"What are you thinking about?" I said, quiet enough for only her to hear.

"I'm running statistics for the bad weather this weekend," she said, gesturing to a mounted TV with the weekend broadcast. "Cold medicine sales will go up."

"You're such a nerd!" I groaned, half laughing.

"There you go again with the cheekiness!" she said, finally dropping the chewed straw back onto the table and whacking my chest lightly.

"But, seriously, do you ever turn this thing off?" I asked, tapping a finger on her forehead.

"When I'm drunk or having sex," she answered bluntly. I baulked at this answer, trying not to let my mind sit on it too long, probably staring openly at her. Thankfully, Scott came back a second later.

"I just called the mini golf place and their electricity is out. They closed for the night," he said with a regretful frown. I glanced back at Derek, who was still standing beside the door, and I knew it wasn't the whole story.

"That's okay, we can just go straight to the club," Lydia said and we all slid out of the booth. We moved towards the exit, Blake and I bringing up the rear but before we could get outside, Derek grabbed my arm, pulling both of us to a stop because Blake's arm was linked with mine.

"Stiles, I almost didn't see you there," he said in a dry tone. His eyes were on Blake the whole time, glancing down to her ankle where she had wrapped Derek's necklace around twice to make an anklet, and then back up to her face with a curious look.

"Hey," I said reluctantly. "Blake this is…my cousin Miguel," I introduced, earning the usual glare from Derek. Blake glanced at me, standing up a little straighter.

"Stiles, I have a photographic memory, and I watch the news," she said, looking back at Derek. "I know who Derek Hale is. It's nice to meet you," she said, sticking out her hand and setting her jaw bravely. I gaped at her. Derek, to his credit, only seemed slightly taken aback before he recovered. He shook her outstretched hand.

"Stiles doesn't like introducing his friends to suspected murderers," he explained.

"You were exonerated," Blake pointed out, her tone cool but polite. Derek smiled.

"That's true," he admitted. "Stiles has told me a lot about you." Blake glanced at me but quickly looked back to Derek, as if keeping her eyes on the dangerous animal would keep it from attacking.

"There's a lot to tell," she responded.

"Yeah, well if you ever need someone to talk—"

"No thanks," she said easily, like he had offered her a piece of gum. "I'll meet you outside Stiles." Derek and I watched her go.

"I like her," Derek said with a smirk.

"Me, too," I agreed.

"I still want to find out what she is," Derek warned me as the restaurant door closed behind Blake.

"Me, too." I clapped him on the shoulder before following my friends outside. Blake caught my eye as we walked to the cars and I shrugged.

"He grows on you," I said, referring to Derek. At her skeptical look, I continued. "When we first met I turned him into the police and told them that he killed his sister and now? Would I leave him for dead so that…I don't know zombies would eat him instead of me? Heck yes, but I would feel super guilty about it now," I said and she laughed, shaking her head at me.

….

We had parked the cars a couple streets over and were about to go around the corner to the club when Liam stopped abruptly.

"They're not going to let me in," he said with a sad look. We all exchanged a glance. He did look young and only Lydia had been here before and had gotten so drunk she didn't remember if they were good at checking ID's.

"I got this," Blake said. She handed me her purse before cracking her knuckles comically, trying to relieve some of Liam's stress. She took off his bow tie and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his dress shirt, untucking it and then running her hands through his hair to tousle it a little. She told him to slouch his shoulders a bit and then grabbed some dirt from the ground.

"Gross!" Liam complained as she expertly brushed just a hint of dirt under his eyes and under his cheekbones. It darkened his face and made it look more angular, and a lot older.

"Good thing it's dark," she muttered as she brushed the dirt off her hands. We all looked at him. He did look a lot older but something was still off.

"Stop looking like that. Act like you're trying to intimidate a rival team not plead for more puppy food," Lydia ordered and Liam scowled. Immediately he looked old enough to pass as legal. Lydia gave Blake a high five and ventured around the corner. The scary looking bouncer did take a close look at Liam, but sighed and let us all through. Blake gave him a subtle fist bump as we went through the door, but then pulled back from him with a frown.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"I taught that kid how to do long division and now I'm helping him sneak into clubs. I'm such a bad role model," she whispered. I laughed at her and dragged her inside.

"I thought you said this was a club," Isaac said to Lydia as we took in our surroundings. Half the room looked like an old fashioned bar, with shiny wood tables and brown leather seating. The other half of the room was a dance hall but it was nothing like the raves that we normally went to. Currently, a country line dance was playing and there were only a handful of people participating.

"I was really drunk," Lydia admitted.

"Come on guys, it'll be fun," Kira said. She was looking at a sign next to her. "It says they have all different types of dancing throughout the night, and the bar looks well stocked!" We all shrugged and Scott found us a table. Lydia ordered, and then brought over a tray of drinks.

"Cokes for Stiles and Kira, our designated drivers," she said, handing us glasses. "And tequila for the rest of us." she passed the salt around but before it could get to Blake she downed the shot without so much as a grimace. We all stared at her.

"Well are you going to drink or what?" she said with a smirk. They did, with a little less grace than Blake, all grimacing or coughing. Blake shrugged off her blazer, revealing the strapless sweetheart neckline of her dress, which I stared at for a little too long, and took another shot before anyone could blink. She grabbed my hand.

"Let's dance!" she dragged me through a completely humiliating line dance and a couple of modern fast songs before I managed to get her back to the table. We were greeted with applause and jabs at my coordination. Blake brought over another bottle of tequila and bottles of whiskey and vodka along with more soda for me.

"How can someone so little handle this much hard liquor?" I asked her with a laugh as she took a large swallow of vodka from the bottle. Werewolves didn't get drunk but both Isaac and Scott still grimaced at the taste, and I'm pretty sure it still burned going down. Blake was drinking everything like it was water.

"I'm Russian," she stage whispered to me.

"Really?" No one was listening to us, all in their own conversations.

"Yep. I did one of those blood test things that tell you your race when I went through the identity crisis stage of being a foster kid. 100% Russian," Blake told me. "My birth mother probably came over without papers, gave me up so she could have a chance at surviving here." She said easily, like it didn't bother her. "That's why I drink a bottle of vodka and can still play darts," she said in a perfect Russian accent. I didn't know how she was standing, let alone walking around in heels, but soon drinking took second seat to dancing. She did a swing dance with Liam, looking to the entire world like a girl from the 1940's, Liam stumbling awkwardly around her. She tangoed with Isaac, who was surprisingly good at it, the room clapping for them after their dance. She danced crazily with Lydia and Kira during a heavy metal song. Lydia rushed back to the table, out of breath after their dance.

"Get off your cute little ass and go dance with her!" Lydia ordered, shoving me towards Blake as a slow song came on. I smirked and led Blake onto the dance floor. I grabbed her right hand in my left and wrapped my other arm around her waist, keeping her close to me. She laid her head on my shoulder and I rested my chin on the top of her head as she twirled lazily to the soft music. "Where did you learn how to dance like that?" I asked her, and she shrugged.

"Nowhere. I guess I just remember seeing people do it on TV or something." I frowned at this, but before I could think it over Blake pulled back to look me in the eye.

"Are you having fun?" she asked. I ran my thumb over her soft hand as I held it to my chest. I pressed a quick kiss to her lips, unsure of how she felt about our friends seeing but needing to reassure myself that I wasn't dreaming. She kissed me back and my heart soared a little as. She tasted like fire and I felt like melting.

"I'm having fun," I said. The song ended and we found the remainder of our group back at the table. Lydia, Liam, and Kira invited us to play pool but we shook our heads.

"Does that mean you're up for a drinking game?" Scott asked Blake and she nodded. I sat next to Scott and, to my surprise, Blake sat on my lap, cracking her knuckles to show she was ready. Scott and Isaac raised their eyebrows at me and I turned wide eyes at them, panicking. She was sitting on my lap. Blake was oblivious to my panic as she poured three glasses. She reached into her handbag and pulled out a handful of quarters, handing some to Scott and Isaac.

"You get it in the glass, they drink, yeah?" she said, and they nodded. She then expertly bounced the quarter off the table and into Isaac's glass. He scowled but flicked one of his quarters into Blake's drink as he was drinking, afterwards spitting the quarter from his mouth into his empty glass. Blake smirked and downed the glass in one gulp, pushing the quarter halfway through her lips and smirked before taking it out with delicate fingers and bouncing it into Scott's glass.

"This is too easy," Scott said as he drank. "We'll move to the next table." They moved a table away and Isaac bounced the quarter off the floor and into Blake's cup. She rolled her eyes at his fist pump and drank. They weren't as consistent long distance, and Blake kept trying fancy maneuvers, using various items to bounce her quarter off of, that sometimes worked out amazingly well and sometimes didn't. Blake was probably drinking the most at this point but was still showing no signs of intoxication. After her fourth glass I caught Scott and Isaac exchanging a look. Werewolves couldn't get drunk and it seemed Blake couldn't either. What exactly did that mean? I looked up at her face as she was throwing another quarter. Despite my initial discomfort, I had settled into our position, one arm around her back and the other resting on her bare thighs, hands tracing lazy patterns on her skin. Her left arm was slung around my neck and she was leaning into me. I pondered her for a second. Did she know about being supernatural? What was she? And did I really care?

Isaac gave up after a while, saying he couldn't drink any more of this poison, and they ended the game, though all of them were fully functional even after drinking a couple of bottles. We decided to wrap up the night and Scott and Isaac went to collect the others.

"When am I going to get_ you_ drunk?" Blake asked, smiling at me. The alcohol was affecting her a little at least, making her looser and more talkative, with no trace of the guarded or calculating look she sometimes wore. I knew what she meant now by only being able to turn off her mind when she was drunk. She wasn't thinking through anything, she was just acting, just doing or saying whatever popped into her mind. It was honest and whole and I found it hard to resist. I cleared my throat, realizing she had asked me a question.

"You don't want to see me drunk. I'm no fun. I just talk too much, get really sappy, and become even more dizzy and uncoordinated," I told her.

"I bet you're a funny drunk," she said tilting her head at me. "You're not the type to be a mad drunk, or a sleepy drunk. And you're always fun." I laughed at her, knowing the alcohol was loosening her tongue.

"Let's get you home," I said, practically picking her up as the others got back to the table. She struggled out of my hold enough to stand, but kept a hand in mine as we went out to the cars.

I drove Lydia and Isaac home first, making sure they got into their homes safely, and then we made it to Blake's apartment. I walked her to her door but she leaned against it instead of going in. she hooked a finger in the collar of my dress shirt and drew me closer to her.

"You could come in for a night cap….or some body shots," she offered, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"Now who's being a tease?" I asked, smirking at her. She tried to suppress a smile. "But I don't think that's a good idea. You're drunk and you probably wouldn't remember it in the morning." I placed my hands on either side of her on the door, boxing her in.

"I'm not drunk, I'm _plastered_," she corrected. "But I have a photographic memory, Stiles. How many times do I have to remind you? I don't forget anything," she said, pressing a chaste kiss to my neck. A chill went up my spine at her warm lips but I pulled back from her, laughing shakily. She groaned. "Why are you being such a gentleman?" she complained.

"Because I want you to like me in the morning," I whispered, tucking her hair behind an ear. She grew serious then, looking at me thoughtfully.

"I lied to you the other day," she said softly and I frowned. "It was more of a fib, really. Sometimes it's like you said and I'm completely comfortable with you, but," she paused and my frown deepened, thinking that I had gone too far or overstepped somehow. "But then other times I am _not _comfy. Other times you make me want to jump out of my skin or something. You make me feel like I'm burning, like I can't breathe. You make me feel…not comfy," she finished and my frown disappeared. I looked her in the eyes seriously.

"You're going to remember this tomorrow?" I questioned solemnly. Almost before she finished nodding I crushed my lips onto hers, pushing her back against the door. My hands ran over her sides and grasped her hips tightly, her arms around my neck pulling me close. Her mouth opened under mine as I groaned, our tongues moving together. I kissed her until I was out of breath, pulling away only slightly and resting my forehead on hers, eyes still closed.

"You make me feel not comfy, too," I whispered, before kissing her again softly. "But you should sleep off all that alcohol." She sighed exaggeratedly, making me smile, and I opened her door for her. She waved goodbye and then shut it. I waited for the sound of the lock, wanting to make sure she was safe, before walking back down the stairs. Before I stepped into my car I did a quick victory dance. And then I drove home with the taste of tequila on my lips.

**Okay so the next chapter will have more of the Kriegers and some action! Hope you like it and suggestions are always appreciated. If there's something you think would make the story better feel free to tell me! Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

"I can't believe I'm nostalgic for hangovers," Isaac said, sitting on my couch eating potato chips. Scott and he had come over to play videogames around ten.

"I can hit you over the head with a baseball bat if you like," I suggested, leaning over my controller. "It will probably feel the same way." It did seem odd that none of us were hung over after last night, but I hadn't been drinking and Scott and Isaac had their insane wolfy tolerance. I wondered how Blake was doing. I handed my controller to Scott to send her a text.

_How are you feeling this morning? –S_

"So are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?" Scott asked, eyes on the TV.

"I'd hardly describe Blake as an elephant," Isaac scoffed.

_I'm nursing Lydia back to health. She isn't a fun hangover buddy, so it's lucky I don't have a hangover. -B_

"I told you I don't know what she is! And I don't know what to research because all we have to go on is that she smells funny," I protested, frustrated by the lack of information.

_How can you not have a hangover? -S_

"Well, I was talking about if you guys are officially dating now, but I guess we should talk about that other thing, too," Scott said with a grimace.

"But are you?" Isaac prompted. "Dating?"

"I don't know!" I said, feeling defensive. "I don't know what she wants!"

_I told you. I'm Russian. -B_

"Dude, she sat on your lap for the better part of an hour last night. I think it's pretty clear what she wants," Isaac said with a smirk. "And she's totally hot." Scott and I both turned and frowned at him. "Just an observation."

_You must have a horrible liver. -S_

"Relationships are kind of tricky when your whole life revolves around the full moon and rival packs of bloodthirsty werewolves. Add in the fact that she could be one of those bloodthirsty werewolves or something worse and it kind of puts the damper on an honest trusting relationship."

_How romantic, Stiles. Have you ever talked to a girl in your whole life? Now stop texting Blake. It's girl's day and I'm taking her phone. –B (Lydia)_

"She's not a werewolf," Scott said with finality. At my raised eyebrows he grimaced. "We do have a little more to go on," he admitted but just then, Derek came in the front door.

"We have a problem. The Kriegers took Peter."

"I don't see that as a problem," Isaac said, turning back to the videogame.

"He knows too much and is all too willing to get rid of us," Derek said. "I don't like him either. But we have to get him. We have to show that we can hold our own."

"Where are they keeping him?" Scott asked.

"Have I mentioned that this place creeps me out?" I whispered. We were sneaking around in the ancient cemetery outside of town. It had been closed for years, the graves too old for anyone to know the names and the site not pretty enough for conservationists or the city manager to care about. It was where the Kriegers were keeping Peter.

"About a million times," Liam whispered back. We were at the back of the group, presumably for protection. Derek stopped at an open crypt door.

"They're down there," he said.

"Fantastic," remarked Isaac. "Why are we doing this again?"

"Here's the plan," Scott said, ignoring Isaac. "We'll distract them and Stiles will head straight for Peter and get him out. Then we leave." I gripped my aluminum baseball bat in my hands, the cool air brushing my cheeks. I didn't feel good about this. But we all nodded and Kira drew her katana.

The crypt was lit only with some electric lanterns, but enough light was cast to show that the room was empty except for a chained bloody figure directly ahead of us.

"You idiots," Peter spat.

"Knew this was a bad idea," Isaac muttered as Liam and I rushed to unchain Peter. I helped him stand, taking some of his weight, but he was already healing quickly.

"Your psychopath didn't have the answers we wanted," said a teasing, young female voice from behind us. We all whirled around to find the Kriegers, arranged on the steps like they were about to take a Christmas photo. Beatrice was the one who had spoken, and she was smirking at us, twirling a red curl around her finger. The pack spread out a bit in a defensive barricade. There were no other ways out of the underground crypt.

"Is that all you want? Answers?" Derek asked.

"Well, that," Mrs. Krieger said. It was the first time I had heard her voice, deeper than expected and melodic. "And to show you the lengths we're willing to go to for our cause." At her words, Oliver leapt forward onto Isaac and the two packs clashed together. I skirted around the outside of the fight with Peter, pressing out backs into the wall of the crypt and looking for an opening to run for the stairs. We watched as Derek morphed into a wolf and leapt at Trevor, and Beatrice slashed at Scott's face.

"Run, now," Peter said and we made it to the stairs, avoiding Kira's slashing sword. Peter started up the steps but the rest of the pack wasn't in any position to follow us.

"Aren't you going to help?" I called after him, but he was gone in a flash.

"You've got to be kidding me," I huffed, gripping my bat. As I turned back to the fight I found Katie standing directly in front of me. My heart raced and I gripped my bat, preparing to defend myself against the embarrassingly small, killer werewolf. But Katie's eyes were their gray, and human, hue. She stared at me solemnly before glancing back at Trevor, who was wrestling with a human Derek.

"You're human?" Katie asked me, and I nodded vigorously with wide eyes and glanced at my bat. She studied it for a second and then glanced around the room again but everyone was too preoccupied with the fight to notice us. "Get out of here, Stiles," she ordered, and then turned to help her family.

"To hell with that," I muttered, ready to whack Beatrice across the face, but before I could take a step off of the stairs I saw the rival alpha walk slowly forward into the middle of the room. Isaac was thrown to the ground her path and everyone seemed to stop and watch and she approached. With a powerful swipe, she dug three deep gouges on Isaac's back. He screamed out in pain but she only smiled and stepped over his body.

"Come," she ordered shortly and the siblings stopped with their fights and followed her towards the door, everyone in too much shock to stop them. I was suddenly faced with an alpha striding toward me, her killer minions behind her like a formation. She had an evil smile on her face but before she could reach where I had glued myself to the floor, Trevor walked in front of her and grabbed me by the front of the shirt, slamming me against the wall, out of the way of the stairs. He held me there as his family walked past, only Katie sparing me a guarded glance. They were halfway up the stairs before Trevor let me gently slide down the wall. I opened my mouth to ask him what he thought he was doing but he shook his head with a warning look and started up the stairs. As soon as they were out of sight we jumped into action.

"Liam, go to my house and stay with Lydia and my mom. Make sure they're safe," Scott shouted and Liam hurried off. I was the first one to Isaac. His face was screwed up in pain and he was losing a lot of blood, the dark liquid having already soaked his shirt and was now seeping into the dirt. "Derek, follow them." Derek changed into a wolf and ran off, sparing a glance back at Isaac. Scott may not be his alpha but he knew when to follow orders. We carried Isaac to the Jeep and Scott put him in the back while Kira and I jumped in. in seconds we were speeding back to town.

"Go to the animal clinic," Scott said, but I shook my head.

"He won't make it. We have to get those wounds closed and some liquid in him before he bleeds out. He won't heal as fast from an alpha wound," I argued.

"Then take him to my house!"

"He. Won't. Make. It," I said, speeding down the road. "Think of a better idea!" Scott was about to yell something back at me when Kira pointed through the windshield at the warehouse district in front of us.

"Guys," Kira said hesitantly. I didn't know what she was implying for a second but then it hit me. Blake lived in the warehouse district.

"No."

"Yes," Scott said and grabbed hold of the wheel, jerking into the turn in at Blake's apartment. I gritted my teeth and stopped us from crashing, pulling up as close as I could to her building. As we carried Isaac up the stairs between us, barely conscious and white as a sheet, I shot a glare at Scott.

"I don't support this. It isn't right to bring her into danger. She's going to have a heart attack."

"You're the one who said we wouldn't make it to Deaton's," Scott grumbled. I glanced at Isaac.

"He won't," I sighed.

"Can we just stop arguing and save my life already?" Isaac huffed, out of breath and fading fast. We finally got to Blake's door and I pounded on it with a fist. When there was no answer, Scott kicked the door in with one foot. I rolled my eyes, but was hopeful that maybe Blake wasn't home and we could handle all this without her knowing. I reached for the light switch.

The light revealed an unexpected scene before us. Blake was standing in the middle of the room, in only a black bra and matching underwear, a silk robe over her shoulders and moving around her knees. Her tan skin was bare and I glimpsed a black tattoo on her hip bone, her hair wild and eye makeup smudged. But even more distracting than her amazingly sexy body was the huge, black pistol in her hands. My mind drifted looking at her, dressed like that, holding a gun. There was something incredibly alluring about girls with guns.

"Stiles?" she asked and I snapped back to reality. We were still standing in her doorway with Isaac bleeding out on her floor and she was still pointing a gun at us.

"Um we kinda need your help," I said lamely. But instead of shooting us, kicking us out, or fainting like I had expected her to do, Blake dove into action. She clipped her gun into a shoulder holster I hadn't realized she was wearing, with the ease of that which television detective clips their prop into place, and threw some papers off of her kitchen table. As Scott and I laid Isaac face down on the table, Blake grabbed a large box from under her bed and ordered Kira to get rags. She opened the box, which turned out to be a very intense first aid kit, and tore open a bag of…staples. She then found what looked like a staple gun. Without a word, she brought the tool to one of the biggest cuts on Isaac's back and, pulling the skin tight together, punched the metal into his flesh. We stood there dumbfounded for a minute.

"Kira and I will make a perimeter around the building. We'll make sure it's safe," Scott said and they left, propping the door back into place.

"Isn't that a little…rudimentary?" I asked as Blake continued to staple Isaac.

"Wounds heal from the bottom of the cut upwards," she said softly, focusing on her work. I flinched as she punched in another staple. Luckily Isaac had lost consciousness when we had knocked on the door. "With his biggest wounds we just need to get the healing started. I'll stitch up his smaller cuts because those won't heal until he's healthy again. His body will focus on the mortal wounds."

"Blake, I—"

"Just let me work, Stiles," Blake mumbled. I couldn't tell if she was angry. I chewed my nails and watched as she finished stapling the biggest cut. Then she took out a needle and some white surgery thread from her kit. She started to expertly sew his smaller wounds shut, stitches neat, fast, and even. I watched Blake anxiously. She was frowning in concentration, eyebrows creased. Her breathing was steady, her exposed chest rising and falling in a reassuring rhythm. She had a smear of blood across her toned stomach. Her hands were covered in it but they never slipped and they didn't slow until every cut on Isaac's chest was closed. She turned to the sink, her back to me, and scrubbed until the blood ran off her hands. She took a deep breath and continued to stare at the sink.

"Blake," I started. She turned, walked to me, and enveloped me in a hug.

"Are you okay?" she whispered. I blinked.

"Um, what? That's all you have to say? No 'Why the heck are you at my home at 2 AM?' No 'Why is there a bleeding teenager on my kitchen table?'" She pulled away and gave me an exasperated look, waiting for an answer. "I'm fine! Isaac was the only one injured."

"He'll be okay," she said and turned to look at his still form. "When Trevor told me to stay in tonight, I figured something might be going on. But I didn't know you guys were involved. And I didn't know all you'd bring was a baseball bat," she scoffed, gesturing to my bat resting against the wall.

"Not all of us have scary, badass guns!" I defended. "And rewind—what did Trevor tell you?"

"He told me his pack would be out tonight and I should stay close to home," she said easily.

"His _pack_?" I questioned. Blake glanced at Isaac, who was already looking better. "You know about werewolves?" Blake nodded.

"Trevor was a born werewolf. I helped him out when we lived with each other," she said, turning to pack up her first aid kit. She was acting way too calm about this.

"And you aren't surprised at all about finding out that we are all involved?"

"You lacrosse practices are pretty intense, Stiles," she joked. "And you guys have the subtlety of a car alarm." She noticed the blood on her stomach and grabbed a rag to wipe it off. My eyes were drawn to her jaw-dropping figure. I flushed and looked towards the ceiling when she glanced up and caught me staring.

"You should probably, um….put on some clothes," I stuttered out.

"Am I distracting you?" Blake teased, and even with my eyes still trained on her rafters I could tell she was smirking.

"Yes, very much so," I admitted, nodding too fast like a maniac. Blake smiled and walked behind her bamboo screen to change.

"Where is the shy girl that trips and crashes into things and blushes when I smile at her?" I asked, almost to myself.

"I'm very comfortable about my body," Blake called, and I could see her pulling a shirt over her head. "I've had it for a long time."

"So then you know about…everything?" I asked, getting back to the matter at hand.

"Well I wouldn't say _everything_," Blake said as she crouched out of sight behind the screen. "But werewolves, druids, and kanimas are old news." Kira and Scott walked back into the apartment just as Blake stepped out from behind the screen wearing a white t-shirt and comic strip patterned shorts.

"Derek called and says the Kriegers are in for the night," Scott assured us. He glanced at Blake.

"She already knew all about everything," I sighed. Scott nodded, obviously having guessed from her earlier reactions to bloody wounds that she had some idea of the truth.

"So what are you?" Kira asked tactlessly. She got that way when she was tired.

"Me?" Blake said. "I'm human. Regular flesh and bone." The rest of us frowned.

"But you can hear things humans wouldn't be able to hear," Scott said. This was news to me, and I thought earlier of Scott saying we had more to go on, but before I could say anything Blake was crossing her arms and giving Scott an annoyed look.

"But not as well as a werewolf. I believe that's what your tests showed." At Scott's shocked look, Blake scoffed. "Don't think you and Liam were being stealthy about it." Scott had the decency to look sheepish.

"So are you something else?" Kira interrupted.

"No," Blake said, getting irritated from the interrogation. "A druid owed me a favor and he showed me a few tricks to enhance my senses. I suspect you have one in your pocket as well considering your choice of gifts," she said, referencing the necklace that masked her scent, but I couldn't see it anywhere on her.

"Actually Derek gave us that," I offered.

"A Hale? Figures."

"You knew the Hales?" Scott inquired.

"Just Laura. But I'd prefer if you didn't tell Derek that for now," Blake said cryptically.

"What's going on?" Isaac mumbled blearily from the table.

"I think that's your cue to call it a night," Blake prompted. "Isaac should be fine and I'll come check on him in the morning. But I do have to get some sleep." We exchanged a look of confusion, but then Scott and Kira went to help Isaac off the table.

"You can't stay here by yourself. It's dangerous! And we broke your front door!" I argued with Blake. She gave me a small smile that reminded me of when we first met and she was still a stranger.

"I'll be fine, Stiles. And if we set the door in its place, no one will know the difference," she suggested. I frowned and her smile grew. She walked over to me and pressed a light kiss on my lips. "I can take care of myself. I have a scary, badass gun, remember?" She pushed me lightly towards the door where Scott and Kira had just exited. "You can come over and fix it tomorrow morning, and then drive me to give Isaac a checkup."

"But—"

"Goodnight, Stiles!" Blake said and shut the door in my face. I inspected it for a second but it did look completely shut and intact from this side. I grumbled under my breath at stubborn women, but did as I was told and followed Scott and Kira to the Jeep.


	8. Chapter 8

I found myself back at Blake's door early the next day. I hadn't brought any tools because I had no idea how to fix a door. I figured I could have my dad come do it later. I heard Blake's light footsteps through the door after I knocked and she carefully moved the door so it wouldn't fall on her. She was beautiful, her hair up and wearing leggings and a workout sweater. She smiled shyly at me. Was I supposed to kiss her? Was I allowed to?

"I don't know how you want me to act around you now," I blurted. Her smile grew a little but then faded back.

"Well, maybe we can try to approach that after I pass inspection with your friends," she said hesitantly. She looked nervous. Trying not to overthink it, I leaned forward and kissed her lightly.

"At least we'll feed you after," I offered and she laughed. I grabbed her hand and led her out to the Jeep, opening the door for her. She was quiet on the way over, more nervous the closer we got to Scott's.

"It's not like I have anything to hide," she said quickly as I parked in front of his house. "It's just that I've never talked to anyone about any of this. Some people knew parts of it but-" I cut off her rambling with a hand on her own.

"It's all right. I understand not wanting to tell people something that you've kept to yourself for a long time, even when they are your close friends. And we haven't known each other for that long. All we're asking for is an explanation," I encouraged her and she nodded before exiting the vehicle. I led her inside without knocking and everyone was there, milling around the living room. Blake tensed at becoming the center of attention for so many people. Scott's mom stepped forward, stepping her distress.

"I'm Melissa, Scott's mom," she introduced herself warmly and shook Blake's hand, her kind face framed by her curly hair. "Why don't we go check on Isaac together first? I'm a nurse but I just got home from my shift and I haven't seen him yet." Melissa led Blake away to the spare bedroom where Isaac was staying.

"I don't think the ambush is helping very much," I said to the room full of the supernatural. With my dad, Scott, Kira, Liam, Lydia, and Derek all there it was a little crowded.

"Maybe Stiles and I can talk to Blake alone," my dad suggested and Scott nodded his permission as Dad walked to my side. Scott had gained a lot of confidence after Mexico and was sliding easily into the alpha position. "How are you doing with all this? I know you really like her," my dad said to me quietly, though the room could still hear him. They pretended to not be listening and started a quiet conversation amongst themselves.

"Honestly, finding out that the girl I like is already mixed up in all this shit isn't that that much of a surprise at this point," I sighed.

"At least she isn't a werewolf," he said then flinched as he remembered Malia. I waved off his concerned look.

"It does take a bit of strain off a potential relationship," I admitted.

"Stop beating around the bush, Stiles. She's your girlfriend," Liam spoke up.

"We haven't talked about that yet," I said.

"I'm giving him an out until after the interrogation," Blake said, having appeared in the room. Melissa was behind her, looking at her as if confused.

"Debrief," I corrected, puzzled at Melissa's reaction to Blake.

"Blake, Stiles and I will talk to you in the other room," my dad said and led her into the kitchen. They sat across from each other and I sat between them at the head of the table. "So, we just want to know a little more about your history with the supernatural. We don't think you're evil or anything, but…"

"You don't know me well enough to trust me," Blake finished with a grim nod. I held her hand on top of the table. "Well, it all started with Trevor. He was a born werewolf but grew up in the foster care system, so he had to learn control quickly. He was sneaky about it, and careful, but one night he changed in front of me on accident. Neither of us knew there were any others for a long time but eventually some moved into our area on the run from hunters. Trevor had to move out of the state after that. I learned to recognize the signs, had a few run-ins. I seem to attract the supernatural somehow. I drink tea for my hearing and eyesight…advantages that a druid in Colorado sends to me. That's pretty much it," she revealed.

"So you're not supernatural yourself?" Dad asked.

"Not that I know of," she said dryly. "But wouldn't that be just my luck?"

"Is Trevor the only one of the Kriegers that you know?" my dad slipped easily from friendly mode to cop mode, though I think I was one of the only people who realized it. If she knew more than one of the Kriegers it would be too much of a coincidence.

"Yep. And I haven't seen him or talked to him in years. I had no idea he joined a pack and he won't tell me much about them at all. I can work on getting some answers for you guys," she offered. "But I won't do anything to endanger Trevor."

"We wouldn't ask you to," I assured her. "He's your brother and that means more than whatever is going on between the packs."

"Well, Blake, I think that's it for now. Deputy Valentine did say you were a bit mysterious. I should've known you would be mixed up in all this," my dad said with a smile. She seemed more at ease after our talk.

Scott poked his head in and told us that Derek was back with breakfast from a bakery. Blake made easy conversation with Lydia about clothes or something while we ate. She fit in with our group pretty well after they had all heard her story via werewolf ears and mouths. As everyone finished they started to filter out and I pulled Blake to the back porch where Scott and I had installed a hammock two summers ago. We sat close but in silence for a few minutes.

"So do you think I'm even weirder now?" Blake asked without looking at me.

"I never thought you were weird," I said. "Well, maybe that first day when you knocked me over and then sprinted into school." She smirked and glanced at me.

"You're not freaked out by my colorful past?"

"No. I think you're kind of amazing," I said. "Plus you're totally hot and I need some popularity points anyway," I teased. She elbowed me lightly.

"I think you're pretty amazing, too," she said shyly.

"Well, we didn't just spend a chunk of time delving into _my_ past, so you can't really make an informed decision," I admitted. "Look, we both have things that we wish we didn't have to deal with. We both have pasts that we would like to stay there but end up coming up too often. But I'm willing to try it out. Blake Everett, will you be my girlfriend? Even though we haven't been on an official date, both have screwed up pasts, and are helplessly entangled in a poorly written teen horror movie?"

"Yes," she said and beamed at me. I kissed her soundly and she hummed into my lips. My hands wandered into her hair before she pulled away a few inches. "But you still have to fix my door."

"I think that can be arranged," I said, still staring at her lips. She brushed them over mine in the lightest of kisses again before standing and pulling me up with her.

"Whatever, I think we'd better ask your dad for help," she said. Dad drove us over in the cruiser and while I helped him bring up his tools, Blake went to start getting some snacks. I tried to help him but after a few minutes he got frustrated with me and told me to just go wait with Blake inside. She was zoning out in the kitchen and absentmindedly eating cheesy puffs.

"I wouldn't have thought you liked those," I said and she looked over at me with a frown.

"What?" she asked and I gestured to the huge tub of orange chemicals in front of her. Her nose immediately wrinkled and she washed the residue off of her hands. "I don't like them. I just stress eat them."

"What were you thinking about?" I asked as she rolled her shoulders and rubbed at her temples.

"I just don't want Trevor to get hurt in all of this. He's been looking for a family for a long time and I hope the one he has now has his best interests at heart. I mean, I don't even really care about what they're doing as long as they're keeping him safe. Does that make me an awful person?" she asked, turning to me.

"No, it doesn't. It makes you a worry wart," I said and she scoffed with a small smile. I moved my hands up and down her arms, trying to comfort her. "But seriously, I think you need to get your mind off of this for a while. Why don't we do something? Do you have any board games?" Twenty minutes later we were immersed in a competitive Scrabble game and Blake was acting more like herself.

"Ephemeral," Blake said as she placed her letters on the board.

"Judicious," I countered.

"Ridiculous," my dad said from where he had appeared from fixing the door in the entryway.

"What is?" I asked as I moved my pieces into place.

"That game. If you're going to play board games at least play something that requires a little skill," he said with a smile. He then pulled out Clue from the open cupboard of games and other odds and ends. I smiled mischievously.

"No, no way!" Blake said, seeing through us in an instant. "There's no way I'm playing a crime game with two detectives!" Dad shrugged.

"It was worth a try," he said. "Anyways, the door's all fixed but I should really get going. I have to stop by my office to take care of a few things. Is it okay if I leave Stiles here with you?" my dad said, addressing Blake.

"I guess I can watch him for a little while, but you're going to have to start giving me more of a heads up, Sheriff, I'm not always available to babysit," Blake joked and I shot her a look. My dad rolled his eyes at us and smiled before walking out. Blake yawned and started to pick at her sweater. I wandered over to a CD player on her nightstand and picked a random burned CD that read 'mellow.' Bloom by The Paper Kites bounced softly around the room. The curtains on her floor to ceiling windows were drawn aside and the sunset was gently coming in. Blake smiled to me as I turned back around to face her and she was beautiful in the soft light. She had taken her messy hair down and the sunlight caught it framing her face. I walked over and held my hand out to her and pulled her up. She smiled to herself as I pulled her into my arms and started to sway with her around the room.

"You're such a charmer," she teased and I smiled back, spinning her slowly and then tucking her back into my arms. She tucked her face into the crook of my neck and closed her eyes. I could feel how tired she was and when she stumbled over her feet for the third time I gently guided her to an upholstered chair by her windows. I sat down and she sat on my lap, her head on my shoulder and our hands entwined. We sat quietly and I traced pictures on her skin.

"I still owe you a real date," I said softly to her.

"But this is pretty nice," she sighed. I kissed her gently. Her cool fingers traced over my face, seeming to memorize every curve, every mole. I continued to steal kisses as she explored my skin. It wasn't sexual, but an innocent show of affection. She tasted like bubblegum and strawberry ice cream and she felt like the wind, brushing across me without hesitation but without hurry. It wasn't like this with Malia, none of the softness or slowness. With her it had always been rough and fast and left you wanting more and knowing that it had been too much at the same time.

Eventually Blake let her head drop onto my chest and her breathing grew more even until she fell asleep in my arms.

**I'm so sorry it took so long to update! It's been so crazy! And then this chapter was shorter than the others and just kind of a filler, but I promise I will have a more exciting update soon! Tell me what you think! **


	9. Chapter 9

When I woke up a couple hours later I gently moved Blake to her bed and tucked her in. I thought about just staying, sleeping in the chair until the morning, making her breakfast in bed, but I decided the walk home would be good for me. I left her a note before leaving and found a spare key in a drawer so I could lock the deadbolt behind me. I texted my dad, saying I was heading home on my way down the stairs. The night was cool but not freezing like they had been lately. Beacon Hills weather was very unnatural for California and was always a bit chillier than it should be. I thought about Blake as I made my way towards my house. I thought about the story she had shared with us today. She had been through so much. I had as well, but in different ways. Just before I rounded the next block of warehouses and rundown shops, I caught a reflection in a window. I spun and locked eyes with Katie's cold gray ones. Before I could even blink she was standing directly in front of me. I flinched away from her.

"I'm not here to hurt you," she said quickly, glancing around. And then she pushed me into an alley. I stumbled but corrected myself before I took a nosedive into a dumpster.

"Could've fooled me," I mumbled. But I knew she wouldn't hurt me. For some reason, probably because of his foster sister, Trevor had convinced her to leave me alone. At least in the not killing me kind of way.

"Stiles, I need you to listen to me," Katie said. She had a dark gray hoodie on under a jean vest and the hood was pulled up, hiding most of her short curly hair, a few strands brushing her freckled cheeks. She was wearing boots with a slight heel but was still so incredibly short it was hard to find her threatening. "Krieger doesn't think that we need your pack. She doesn't want you anywhere near us and if you get in our way she won't hesitate to kill any of you. But you're not why we're here."

"You call your adoptive mom by her last name?" I asked. Katie barely spared me an exasperated glance before returning to her frantic watch of the street. "And we know why you're here. You're here to build a freaking werewolf army."

"No," Katie responded. "The army is already built. We are only one team, one limb of what's going on. Krieger is just a captain with one piece of the puzzle."

"You're telling me that there is someone out there with a werewolf army and they are organized enough to be planning something. What did they send you here for if not for Scott?" I asked, a hollow pit forming in my stomach.

"No one forms an army without reason, Stiles. The question you should be asking is it the reason is offense or defense," Katie whispered.

"Then which is it?" I asked, the pit of dread growing in my stomach, but she ignored my question.

"By tomorrow we won't be the only ones you have to worry about in Beacon Hills."

"Another pack is coming?"

"No. Not another pack," Katie said distractedly as she watched a shadow from down the street. "Look, I have to go."

"Wait! Tell me what's coming!" Katie turned back to me.

"Have you ever thought of the consequences of exposure, Stiles? What would happen if someone in a position of authority found out about the supernatural, someone who didn't have a code like the hunters, who didn't need to protect loved ones like your mom or the sheriff? Have you thought about what they would do?" Katie's intense gaze broke from mine again as she watched the shadow approach us from two blocks away. "I have to go, Stiles."

"You've hardly told me anything!" I protested.

"Just tell Scott to start playing his cards closer to his chest," Katie said earnestly. Then she grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me down to her height. "Your job, Stiles, is to keep Blake alive. You fail and you won't have any more allies in our pack. I will make you suffer the consequences," she said with a glare. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Why do you care about Blake?" I asked.

"Any sister of Trevor's is a sister of mine," she said, and I believed her. "Go home, Stiles. It's not safe out here." And then she was gone.

* * *

I relayed Katie's message to Scott the next day before school. He was putting books in his locker and seemed unconcerned.

"She told me to tell you to be careful, Scott. She was saying something about consequences and exposure, and it was really unclear," I was saying.

"So Katie is helping us now?" Scott said with a frown. I glanced around, glad I had asked Isaac to text me when the Kriegers arrived at school. I don't think Katie would have benefitted from us broadcasting that to some of her siblings.

"No, maybe, I don't know! But we're risking her double agent status by talking about it any longer at school. Keep this between us for now, okay? We don't need Liam or Isaac spilling the beans and putting her in danger," I said. Katie's paranoid mood from last night was infectious it seemed.

"I don't like secrets, Stiles," Scott said and I gave him an incredulous look.

"Your whole life is one huge secret, Scott! I think you can handle this one until the end of the school day," I said, chewing on my thumb nail nervously as I watched kids move past Scott's locker. Kira and Blake walked up to us and both immediately caught on to our tense mood.

"What's going on?" Blake asked, lightly brushing her fingertips on my wrist. It seemed to ground me and I didn't feel as frantic as I had a moment ago.

"I'll tell you later," I said and she nodded, understanding. Scott and Kira went to pick something up from the office and Liam found us as we started towards Blake's class, greeting us.

"I didn't hear you leave last night. When I woke up you weren't there," Blake said to me. Liam started coughing roughly and my eyes widened at the implications of that statement. Blake looked over to Liam with concern, not realizing what she had implied.

"Oh, uh…" I stuttered and then Blake realized what Liam was thinking. A pale blush crept up in her cheeks and she backed up a step from me.

"That's not…I didn't mean…nothing….I'll see you guys later," she said before turning quickly and almost sprinting to her class. I smiled at her retreating form. She was wearing a baggy gray sweater as a dress and had a red flannel tied around her waist with black combat boots. Her crazy mess of blonde hair bounced as she jogged away from us.

"Meet me outside for lunch!" I called after her and she raised her arm to give me a thumbs up without turning around. I turned to Liam, who had recovered from his coughing fit and had his eyebrows raised at me. I whacked the back of his head.

"It wasn't like that. Don't make her uncomfortable," I reprimanded him, before heading to my class.

"Dude, you seriously aren't going to tell me? I'm dying over here!" Liam yelled as I left him in the empty hallway.

* * *

Blake walked slowly up to me where I was leaning against my car. I smiled at her but she just walked straight up to me and then buried her face in my neck. I laughed.

"Tough day?" I asked.

"I'm possibly the most embarrassing person in the whole world," she mumbled into my collar. I pulled her face away and pressed a firm kiss on her lips.

"Possibly," I whispered before kissing her again with a smile, feeling her frown at my comment.

"Did you bring me out here to make fun of me?" she complained, but I knew she wasn't being serious. "Or did you decide that this is our make out spot?" I raised my eyebrows at that.

"Actually, I was attempting to be a gentleman and take you out on a real date to a restaurant of your choice. But if you want to just make out that would be okay with me," I said, leaning towards her face. She took a step back and then made her way around to the passenger door.

"Nope, I'm starving," she responded with a smirk. We went to a sandwich shop and were just sitting down with our food when four military trucks pulled into the parking lot. Blake watched them curiously from the window.

"So, sorry I bailed last night. I thought that you should get some real sleep after Saturday night," I said. Blake turned her attention back to me.

"You don't need to apologize," she said, brushing it off and taking a bite of her sandwich. "What were you and Scott talking about this morning?" I relayed the message to her and Katie's stance on her own safety and her comment about sisters. Blake nodded as if she had suspected Trevor and Katie were protecting her and because of her, me.

"I think I could accept being Katie's sister. Trevor says she's cool. But I am not accepting Beatrice as part of my screwed up family," Blake said and I nodded in agreement.

"Do you have a lot of them?" I asked. "Siblings that you were close to, like Trevor?"

"Not really. I didn't stay in one place long enough for that. I was with Trevor for a few years and the only other person I ever spent any real amount of time with is my friend Tabi."

"You mentioned her before. She's coming to visit this week, right?" Blake smiled at me.

"Yeah, she is. Do you still want to meet her?" Blake asked hesitantly.

"Of course I do," I responded and Blake smiled at me, but then got distracted looking out the window again. A bunch of men and piled out of the trucks, all dressed in combat fatigues and were now heading into the shop for lunch. They were loud, but respectful as they ordered and then sat, filling up most of the restaurant's seating. The group that sat next to us took notice of us quickly.

"Aren't you kids supposed to be in school?" one man asked with a friendly tone. He had short brown hair and gray eyes and something about his posture and the way the other men looked at him suggested that he was in charge.

"Open campus during lunch hour," I explained. He nodded to us with a smile.

"Can I ask where you're stationed, Sergeant?" Blake asked the man.

"Your girl knows her insignias," he addressed me, sounding mildly amused. "Well, ma'am, we're stationed here for the time being. We're scoping out some new training grounds outside of town. From what we've seen so far, we might be here a while. But, excuse me, where are my manners? Staff Sergeant Pierce, pleasure to meet you." I shook his hand before Blake repeated the action.

"I'm Stiles Stilinski and this is Blake," I revealed. I didn't introduce her as my girlfriend because I didn't want to freak her out, after all we had only agreed on that title last night, and because the sergeant had already assumed as much.

"Stilinski…your dad's the sheriff?" Pierce asked and I nodded. "I just read his file on the way over. Seems like he's doing an outstanding job with this town. Especially considering how it seems to attract serial murderers," he laughed. I wasn't sure how to respond to this. His words were sincere but they seemed off somehow. "So, Blake did your dad serve? You seem to know how to read a man's uniform."

"No, I work for a company with a military contract. Get to meet a lot of good soldiers," she said easily, though I sensed it wasn't the whole truth. Pierce seemed to think so too, but didn't comment.

"Well I'd better let you two get back to your lunch; you probably should be getting back to school soon. It was nice to meet you both," he said.

"Sir," Blake said and we both gave him a nod. We hurried through the rest of our lunch, Blake seeming tense. I held her hand on the way out to the car, keeping her from running over. I opened the door for her and she got in quickly. In a few moments, we were on the road.

"Are you all right?" I asked, unsure of what was bothering her.

"What did Katie say about authority? And then the military, showing up here the exact day that she said this new enemy would come. Do you think that's a coincidence?" she asked quietly, as if afraid to fear the worst. I thought about it for a second and realized she was right, there was something going on.

"Do you think that they knew who we were?" I asked. Blake bit her lip.

"Let's hope not," she mumbled. "Stiles, if this is what Katie was talking about, if the government knows about werewolves and someone out there created a werewolf army to fight them, I don't think they're here to protect us. They're either here to make the supernatural a science experiment, testing everyone like animals or…" Blake trailed off as if she didn't want to voice the second option. And I knew why.

"Or they're here to kill all of them."

* * *

Sorry it took so long to update! Tell me what you thought of this chapter because I wasn't too sure about it! If you have any ideas or anything you want to see let me know, I have the plot basically planned out but I would love to add in scenes you guys want! Thanks for reading!


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